Category: Justice

Lawful and Just are not necessarily the same thing

O’Canada Occasion – Amnesty International Fundraiser, KW Little Theatre, 6pm on Saturday 13 September 2025

Celebrate human rights for 2SLGBTQIA+

Skits, music, drag show, silent auction, snacks and beverages!

Tickets are $25. Send an e-transfer to groupnine9@gmail.com with the message “fundraiser ticket“. We’ll welcome you at the door!

Fundraiser Highlights:

A silent auction including:

  • Works of art by local artists Sandee Lovas, Jackie Bradshaw, Janet Main, and Sharon Woodley
  • Gift certificate for two to attend Mysterious Players at the Aberfoyle Mill: Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre
  • Two beautiful traditionally hand crafted Persian tablecloths / wall hangings
  • Music with a human rights theme provided by local band Ironhorse and members of the Old Chestnuts Song Circle “Channeling Pete Seeger”.
  • Drag Performances featuring Quinta Sensual and Uncle Rabbit (They/Them).
  • A live auction with some tongue-in-cheek poking fun at American calls for annexation of Canada.
  • Presentations including a sharing of personal experiences of human rights issues from two of our 2SLGBTQIA+ members and an interview with Dr. Nancy R. Tapias Torrado, UW Prof of Human Rights and former Amnesty International’s Americas Regional Researcher (International Secretariat, London, UK)

Celebrating Human Rights: O'Canada Occasion When: Sat, Sept 13 6-9pm Where: KW Little Theatre 9 Princess St E, Waterloo What: Music, Skits, Speakers, Silent/Live Auctions, Drag Show, FUN! For Tickets ($25) Email: GroupNine9@gmail.com

Group Nine is the local chapter of Amnesty International Canada in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Group Nine meets at 7:30 pm on the first Tuesday of every month in The Fretz Seminar Room (Room 4224) at Conrad Grebel College, University of Waterloo (140 Westmount Road North, Waterloo) Map 2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmnestyInternationalGroup9/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amnestygroup9/

www.amnesty.ca
groupnine9@gmail.com

Urgent Meeting of WR for Palestine, 6pm on Tuesday 5 August 2025

🚨
For two years Canada has lied about their arms trade with Israel- and now we have the proof.

Join us on Tuesday, 5 August 2025 at 6:00pm for a critical community meeting to plan our next steps. Register now via link in bio.

This is your chance to get informed, get organized and take action. This is our chance to demand a two-ways arms embargo on Israel once and for all.

Arms Embargo Now Urgent Community Meeting The time to act is now. For two years Canada lied about sending weapons to Israel -- now we have the proof. Join us to get informed, get organized and to take action. Tues, Aug 5th @ 6:00 Register for Location Link in Bio Palestinian Youth Movement Neighbour

Stop Starving Gaza — KW Emergency Protest at Waterloo Public Square at 6pm on Thursday 24 July 2025

Gaza is being starved to death!

The past few months have pushed our people to the edge — children are dying from hunger and dehydration, families are being wiped out under siege and bombing, and exterminated by a lack of food, water and medical care. This is a murderous genocide, and starvation has become an intentional weapon used by Israel. This inhumanity must be stopped through world protests and actions, we will honour our responsibility to bring this to an end.

JOIN US on Thursday 24 July 2025 at 6:00pm in Waterloo Public Square to demand an immediate lift of the siege! 🇵🇸

Palestinian Youth Movement KW Emergency Protest Stop Starving Gaza Now! Thursday July 24 6:00pm Waterloo Public Square 75 King St S, Waterloo , ON N2J 1P2 (background photo of aid workers carry boxes)

Organizers:

Palestine Day: The Land Remains, Carl Zehr Square (Kitchener City Hall), 1pm Sunday 13 July 2025

KW Palestine Festival Presents 4th Annual Palestine Day The Land Remains July 13 2025 1PM - 9PM Carl Zehr Square (200 King St, W, Kitchener, ON) Vendors | Food | Games | Performances | Prizes | Palestine Exhibition (photo of children flying kites, one coloured like the Palestinian flag; the perspective is from under the ground through vegetation. There are logos for Palestinian Youth Movement and Sporas at the top of the page)

Supported by:

Arms Embargo Now! Rally at Centra Industries, 6pm on Friday 20 June 2025

National Indigenous Peoples Month & Pride Kickoff at Kitchener Market, 10am on Sunday 1 June 2025

What: National Indigenous Peoples Month & Pride Kickoff Land Back Camp (illustration of a Teepee)
When: 10:00am to 2:00pm on Sunday 1 June 2025
Where: In front of the Kitchener Market
Location: 300 King Street East, Kitchener, Ontario Map
Website: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=965234062444705

National Indigenous Peoples Month & Pride Kick Off Sunday June 1, 2025 10 AM-2PM Kitchener Market Food, craft vendors, live music and more! Rain or shine! (colourful photo of a man performing a Hoop Dance)

Food, craft vendors, live music and more!
Rain or shine!

Artivism Against Bill 6, Corner of King St. and Victoria St., 5pm on Thursday 29 May 2025

What: Artivism Against Bill 6
When: 5:00pm to 7:00pm on Thursday 29 May 2025
Where: Near King Street and Victoria Street intersection, Kitchener, Ontario Map
Online: Unsheltered Campaign and A Womb With A View
Contact: Two White Feather or Gentle Eagle at awombwithaviewmakesadifference@gmail.com

Lori Gentle Eagle writes:

A Womb With A View would love to create a Protect Art piece with those in attendance and have it stand along side speakers sharing their thoughts and signs held high by people who care. This Artivism would involve tying cloth or ribbon onto a basic scarecrow figure. Each cloth would have a statement or word written on it about the harm that would come with this Bill e.g. violation of human rights, criminalization of the poor, stigmatization of people who use substances, further displacement of Indigenous folks on their own lands, etc.

Artivism Against Bill 6 (a half-tone photo of a hand beside orange letters)

Collective Art | Bill 6 and Bylaw Info | Petition Signing

Shelter 4 All Unsheltered Campaign (stylized drawing of a shelter, white on orange)A Womb With A View (collage of Indigenous artwork)

  • Stand against Bill 6 and the 100 Victoria by-law punishing unhoused individuals’ survival.
  • Help build collective art piece of resistance
  • Write a word naming this harm on ribbon and add it to a scarecrow figure. Scare away Bill 6!

International Palestinian Children’s Day, 11:00am, Saturday 5 April 2025 at the Kitchener Market

What: International Palestinian Children’s Day Waterloo Region Friends of Palestine (B&W woodcut of an olive tree)
When: 11:00am on Saturday 5 April 2025
Where: Kitchener Market
Location: 300 King Street East, Kitchener, OntarioMap
Contact: wrfriendsofpalestine@gmail.com

Waterloo Region Friends of Palestine writes:

Dear Friends of Palestine,

Always amongst the debris are hidden gems that call for celebration. This week amongst the ongoing carnage of Israeli’s maniacal genocide, we have a moment of brightness, a key to Palestinian liberation that will be the prize of Palestinians. International Palestinian Children’s Day is on Saturday 5 April 2025, it is a mouthful that is easily missed, but, the children of Palestine need to be celebrated and it will be a joy this weekend to shine the spotlight on them, as we also remember their suffering.

A young Palestinian child wearing a lab coat with a stethescope around his neck smiles at the camera. The background shows apartment buildings blasted to rubble.
Future health care worker
We will be celebrating their spiritual fortitude, their cultural strength and their physical and mental courage. They have been born into a world of chaos and genocidal occupation and still, like a tree growing out of a rock, the children have thrived, learned, loved and played, they have dreams and visions for the future. These children are the future leaders of Palestine and they will liberate Palestine and the world one day. It is in the eyes of this future health care worker that leadership to a better place is the vision and the focus, he and his peers will arrive at a place of justice, dignity and liberation for all.

This Saturday, join the Walk with Grief to lift your spirits, in addition, come to the table for International Palestinian Children’s Day that is just inside the market (Upper level), bring your children, they can colour pictures, write notes to the children of Gaza, share in the candies and other treats available for children.

Do not miss the moment, International Palestinian Children’s Day (IPCD), bring yourself, bring your children to celebrate the future leaders of Palestine.

Please join us at the Walk for Grief, this Saturday at 11am at Kitchener Market. Also, join us inside the market (upper level near front door) 7:00am to 2:00pm.

irene and WRFP

Waterloo Region Friends of Palestine
Instagram: @wrfriendsofpalestine

Film Screening: Bread and Roses, 5pm on Wed 12 March 2025 by Amnesty International UW

What: Film Screening: Bread and Roses B&W illustration of a candle in a loop of barbed wire)
When: 5:00pm on Wednesday 12 March 2025
Where: United College Alumni Hall A
Location: 190 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, Ontario Map
Register: Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bread-and-roses-screening-tickets-1262702891339
Website: https://linktr.ee/AmnestyUW

To: Faculty and Friends of the Human Rights Program at United College,

Amnesty International’s UW Chapter cordially invites you to join us for the screening of the momentous and enraging documentary Bread and Roses. Directed by Sahra Mani and produced with Malala Yousafzai, as well as Jennifer Lawrence, the documentary follows three Afghan women post 2021 Taliban take-over as they begin to navigate life under the oppressive rule and fight for their autonomy.

What you need to know:

Snacks will be provided.

The Amnesty International UW Chapter aims to raise awareness and hands on support for both local Waterloo and international human rights issues. We ask our members what human rights issues they want our focus on, and for this term, our members chose women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is ranked last in the Women, Peace, and Security Index. Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, women and girls have faced an unprecedented loss of their rights and freedoms. Banning girls from post primary education, from working jobs or volunteer roles, from public life, and much more, the Taliban created the world’s most serious women’s rights crisis. Now, with the pulling of USAID contracts from an already reeling economy, the threat of survival looms over the lives Afghan women and their families.

Bread and Roses is a chant that finds its origins in the American women’s suffragette movement. It’s a call for bread, work, and education. The documentary, using guerilla techniques and phone cameras, shows the rise of the Taliban through the eyes of three female activists as they struggle to retain their basic rights. The film may be disturbing to some, as it covers the real and extreme risks of punishment and abduction.

We hope to see you there,

UW Amnesty International Chapter.

Reach out to us @aihumanrights on Instagram Or visit our link tree at https://linktr.ee/AmnestyUW.

ACORN Town Hall at 2:30pm on Saturday 25 January 2025 at Kitchener Public Library

What: ACORN Region-Wide Town Hall meeting ACORN Tenant Union Ontario (BW line drawing of an acorn in a circle, surrounded by text
When: 2:30pm on Saturday 25 January 2025
Where: Kitchener Public Library Main Branch, Room E
Location: 85 Queen Street North, Kitchener Map
Contact: Vonica Flear +1‑226‑545‑4359
E-mail: kw@acorncanada.org
Online: https://acorncanada.org/locations/waterloo-acorn/

ACORN is Holding a Region-Wide Town Hall to Identify Community Issues and Launch New Survey for Low-Income Residents

(Kitchener, ON) – ACORN is organizing a Town Hall on Saturday, 25 January 1025 at 2:30pm at the Kitchener Public Library for all residents of Waterloo Region to meet and discuss issues they’re struggling with, how the community can organize against these issues, and what they think ACORN should prioritize in 2025.

At the town hall, ACORN leaders will review ACORN’s campaign work on the local, provincial, and national level, and how ACORN members organize on various community issues like bad faith evictions, skyrocketing grocery prices, low social assistance rates, and more. We will also be joined by guest speakers including a Hamilton ACORN Organizer who will be sharing how ACORN members fought for and WON a strong anti-renoviction bylaw in Hamilton, and the importance of perseverance when fighting for change. To close the meeting, ACORN members will be launching our new tenant survey to shed light on the sheer scale of struggles low-income residents face across the Region.

We welcome all tenants and other low-income residents across Waterloo Region to join us and share their experiences during our break out discussion sections, following which ACORN leaders will hold an exercise to illustrate how to organize for change.

To speak with an ACORN leader about this event or discuss ACORN’s campaigns, please contact ACORN staff Organizer Vonica Flear at kw@acorncanada.org or +1‑226‑545‑4359.