PosterThis year a massive coalition of environmental, social justice, faith, labour, community, student and indigenous groups, as well as families and concerned citizens are building an unprecedented global mobilization in support of climate justice.
On Sunday, 29 November 2015 people from across Waterloo Region will join with voices from around the world to show our support for ambitious and real action against climate change at COP21, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris, is our most important climate conference yet.
Come together with neighbours and friends to send a powerful message of encouragement and hope in support of decisive action at COP21. Sound your drums and raise your voices in solidarity with people from around the globe. Be part of an historic event at this most important juncture in the climate movement.
Join us on 21 and 22 November 2015 to make posters and art for the march (location to be determined).
WHAT: Peaceful family-friendly march in advance of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris, 30 November to 11 December 2015.
WHEN: Sunday, 29 November 2015 2:00pm
WHERE: Start at Waterloo Public Square, 75 King St S, Waterloo Map
End at 22 Willow Street.
Amnesty International — Write For RightsHere is the poster for the December Write for Rights event of Amnesty International Group Nine. Please distribute it as widely as you can, either electronically or in printed form.
The seven cases upon which we will be focusing this year can be found at www.writeathon.ca. If you want to bring printed letters with you to Seven Shores on the 5th, we’ll be happy to mail them for you. If you send them yourself, either by post or electronically, please let us know so that we can get a count of the total sent from Group 9 (Amnesty Canada asks us for this).
Many thanks to all,
David Lubell and Margaret Jackson
What will you be doing to change a life?
I will be writing letters of solidarity to prisoners of conscience on International Human Rights Day
Join Amnesty International’s Write for Rights letter writing event and your words can change a life.
Time and Date: December 5th, Noon to 4:00pm
Location:
Seven Shores Cafe Map
10 Regina Street North, Waterloo
We are pushing the symposium back a half hour because of a book launch that Project Ploughshares is hosting. Project Ploughshares and the Centre for Peace Advancement are presenting the launch of Ernie Regehr’s book, “Disarming Conflict: Why peace cannot be won on the battlefield.” This event is on the 4th floor of the Centre for Peace Advancement at Conrad Grebel in the gallery space. Feel free to stop by before our symposium event!
The symposium will be held from 5:30-7:30, also on the 4th floor of Conrad Grebel in the Centre for Peace Advancement, in the Fretz Seminar Room.
Who’s involved in the Kitchener-Waterloo Peace and Social Justice community? And do we all know each other? Emily Mininger from PeaceQuestKW wants to meet us all, and is hosting a Peace and Social Justice Symposium:
From: Emily Mininger <e.mininger@gmail.com> Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2015 20:40:54 Subject: Kitchener Waterloo Peace and Social Justice Community Symposium
Hello!
You’re invited to a Peace and Social Justice Community Symposium. We’re inviting different groups active in the area of peace and social justice in the KW community to come together, share their work and experiences, and brainstorm about future possibilities for collaboration in an effort to obtain a “snapshot” of the KW Peace and Justice community as it is currently. We have many people in the KW community working for peace and justice, and there is a wealth of knowledge to be shared. Come participate in this community conversation and help us learn together.
This event is taking place at Conrad Grebel University College on October 29th. The program of the evening will run from 5-7pm 5:30pm – 7:30pm and include introductions, a brief roundtable about who people are and what work they do, discussions about challenges and strengths of working in the KW community, and brainstorming common goals and possible avenues for collaboration.
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 13:24:09 -0400 Subject: Film about Missing Mexican Students From: Group Nine <groupnine9@gmail.com>
Here’s an event not to miss: Cinema Politica is showing Ayotzinapa: Chronicle of a State Crime in room 301 of the RCH Building at the University of Waterloo on Wednesday, 23 September 2015 at 7:00pm. This film is an exposé of the Mexican police and military authorities in the armed kidnapping and disappearance of 43 students. This is one of the cases that Group 9 featured at our table this summer.
Group Nine is the local chapter of Amnesty International Canada in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. We normally meet at 7:30 pm on the first Tuesday of every month in Room 4224 (The Fretz Seminar Room) at Conrad Grebel College, University of Waterloo (140 Westmount Road North, Waterloo N2L 3G6). Please confirm by email or on our Facebook page.
Project Ploughshares, in partnership with the MSCU Centre for Peace Advancement, Conrad Grebel University College and St. Jerome’s University, presents
Canada and the Global Arms Trade
How weapons exports may fuel human rights violations and armed conflict
Chair: Cesar Jaramillo, Project Ploughshares
Panelists
Hilary Homes, Amnesty International Canada
Steven Chase, The Globe and Mail
Kenneth Epps, policy advisor to Project Ploughshares
This is the 5-minute presentation I made to Kitchener city council on the subject of the privatization of Hydro One, on 2015 June 29.
Mayor Vrbanovic, Councillors & Staff, fellow citizens:
Hydro power celebration, Berlin, OntarioWe’ve all seen the inspiring pictures of the night when Berlin, Ontario was electrified in 1910. The banners over King St proclaimed POWER FOR THE PEOPLE.
Adam Beck — a staunch Conservative by the way — fought for hydroelectric power to be a public asset — Why? Because he wanted businesses across Ontario to have equal access to affordable power. Later he worked hard to get homes and farms electrified as well. Since the days of Sir Adam Beck, we’ve all come to see Ontario Hydro and its successors as a sacred trust and a source of pride.
If we were to lose public ownership and control over Hydro One, the potential impact on Ontario’s cities and our local distribution companies could be enormous.
You may have seen our MPP Daiene Vernile’s column in the Kitchener Citizen, which outlines the government’s position for privatization. She states that by retaining a 40% share, Ontario could somehow prevent the outcomes we all fear: skyrocketing rates, shares becoming resold and consolidated in foreign hands, and loss of all regulatory influence. Ms Vernile’s arguments don’t add up, to my mind anyway.
Let’s look at the possible impacts on Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro. What if KWH had to start paying a lot more for transmitted power? If our Hydro bills soared, would we have any recourse? Suppose that this Council, or a future one, wished to bring in a local power generation policy, could we be sued under the WTO? How great would the pressure be to let private interests buy up KWH? How would the new “Hydro Ombudsman” that Ms Vernile speaks of, be able to protect us against such forces?
If we don’t know the answers to these questions and more, then we need time to do the necessary due diligence. We need to ask the Province not to go ahead with this privatization plan at this time.
I have received endorsements from the leadership of several local groups: the Waterloo Regional Labour Council, Grand River Environmental Network, and the Council of Canadians, who will be bringing the issue of Hydro One before Guelph Council soon. I’ve also received support from former Councillor Jean Haalboom, and from Councillor Zyg Janecki who happens to be in Sask tonight.
I urge you to look into the questions I raised above with some urgency. The first IPO of 15% of Hydro One is already being prepared. There’s no time to lose.
Please let the Ontario government know that the people of Kitchener still want “Power for the People” to be a continuing reality, and not a distant memory.
Since the clerk’s office had twice refused to register me as a delegation, I had 5 minutes to speak and no standing on the agenda.
After my presentation, Councillor Yvonne Fernandes tabled a motion, seconded by Councillor Frank Etherington, similar to the motion on Hydro One adopted by the city of Oshawa. But Council voted not to debate or vote on her motion.
I hope this isn’t the end of the story …
Readers, no matter what municipality you live in, please tell your Mayor and Councillors that you’d like them to pass a resolution asking the Ont gov to Keep Hydro Public! More than 40 municipalities already have.
Canada needs a new economy that works for people and the planet
From Alberta to the coasts, Canada is ready for an economy that creates good jobs for all, protects the air, land and water, and tackles climate change.
We don’t have to choose between the economy or the environment. By taking climate action, we can create an economy that is more fair and equal and generates hundreds of thousands of good green jobs. It means supporting the labour that takes care of people and the planet — education, healthcare, childcare and the protection of the land, much of it done by women. It means expanding localized agricultural systems to use less fossil fuels and provide affordable, nutritious food for everyone in Canada.
We want an economy in which workers earn a living wage – starting with a $15 minimum – and which prioritizes people who are unemployed, struggling in precarious, temporary, or non-unionized jobs or in industries being shut down. Which honours Indigenous peoples’ rights and recognizes their role in protecting the land, air and water for everyone. Which guarantees migrant and undocumented people are not excluded and receive full immigration status. Which ensures that black and brown lives matter as much as white ones and are free of racism and police violence. Which respects the limits of the environment made clear by climate science.
Climate action means protecting and expanding public control over our energy systems to ensure cheaper rates and a transition to clean energy sources. It also means building affordable, energy-efficient housing and better public transit.
This July, Toronto will host a Pan American Climate Summit and an Economic Summit, where politicians will face a choice: listen to corporate leaders from across the Americas gathering to advance an economic austerity agenda that is increasing inequality and causing a climate crisis felt disproportionally in the global south – or listen to the people.
On the eve of those summits, let’s make sure they hear our demands: a justice-based transition to a new energy economy, in which corporate polluters pay and ordinary people benefit.
The only way to overcome a small, powerful group who have a lot to lose is to build a massive movement of people with everything to gain.
On Sunday July 5, join the March for Jobs, Justice & the Climate in the streets of Toronto.
Please find attached an announcement for films that will be shown at the Balsillie School for International Affairs this week in classroom 1-42.
Both films are by filmmaker Amit Breuer, who will be attending the second of the viewings. I will facilitate a discussion following each of the films.
If you’re interested in documentary filmmaking and the Israel-Palestine conflict, feel free to attend. Both events are free and open to the university community.
With all the very best,
Jasmin
Balsillie School for International Affairs (BSIA) presents:
Open to students, faculty, and the university community
Exile: A Myth Unearthed
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
7:30 pm to 9:30 pm in BSIA Classroom 1-42
Discussion following film facilitated by Jasmin Habib (University of Waterloo)
NFB + Amythos Description: The exile of the Jews following the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD has played a central role in the Christian and Jewish traditions. But what if it never happened? That is one of the provocative questions raised by Exile: A Myth Unearthed. The film travels from Sepphoris to Masada, Jerusalem, and the catacombs of Rome, featuring interviews with leading historians and archaeologists. Throughout, we also return to a group of tourists who hear the traditional interpretation of events such as the siege of Masada – an interpretation which stands in sharp contrast to recent evidence. The issues raised in Exile are of more than passing historical interest. The possibility that many Jews – such as those of Sepphoris – simply remained where they lived raises uncomfortable questions. Re-thinking exile might overturn long-held historical and cultural ideas. But it may also point to a richer, more diverse past than we had ever imagined. [Amit Breuer (Amythos Media), Serge Gordey & Christine Camdessus (Alegria Productions), Colette Loumède (National Film Board of Canada), Ilan Ziv (TAMI)]
Checkpoint
with Introduction by Amit Breuer (Amythos Films)
Thursday, June 18, 2015 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm in BSIA Classroom 1-42
Q+A following the film facilitated by Jasmin Habib
AMYTHOS Description: The West Bank and Gaza Strip have been under Israeli Military authority since 1967. Over three million Palestinians live under Israeli occupation. When travelling from one village or city to another to go to work, to visit relatives, or to get medical treatment, they must pass through Israeli checkpoints. These checkpoints, essentially the first points of contact between the two people, have an enormous significance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Amit Breuer (Amythos Media), Edna & Elinor Kowarsky (Eden Productions).
Awards include: VPRO Joris Ivens Award, 2003, IDFA, The Netherlands; Best International Documentary Feature Award, 2004, Hot Docs, Canadian International Documentary Festival, Toronto; The Golden Gate Award, 2004, San Francisco Int’l Film Festival, USA; Special Documentary Award, 2004, DOKFEST Munich Documentary Festival, Germany; Cinematography Award, 2004, Tel Aviv Int’l Documentary Film Festival, Israel; Special Jury Mention, 2004, First Prize for Innovative Photography; Documentary Madrid, Spain; Best Documentary Award, 2004, Newport International Film Festival, USA; Best Documentary Award, 2004, Calgary International Film Festival, Canada; Best Documentary Award, 2004, Docupolis Festival, Barcelona, Spain; Winner of The Golden Rib Award, 2004, Zagreb Int’l Film Festival, Croatia; European Film Academy Documentary PRIX ARTE Award (2004).
These films form a part of the workshop on “Israeli Emigres, Human Rights, and the Israel-Palestine Conflict” organised by Jasmin Habib, University of Waterloo and Rhoda Howard Hassman, Canada Research Chair, Human Rights, Wilfrid Laurier University and sponsored by the Balsillie School for International Affairs.
Local Peace Group Hosts Panel Discussion “Is War Ever Black and White?”
By Emily Mininger
April 14, 2015
Waterloo, ON — Local peace group PeaceQuest KW is hosting a panel discussion event “Is War Ever Black and White? Recolourizing the Reality of War on April 30th at Stirling Mennonite Church.” This free public event is features speakers Marlene Epp, professor of History and Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Waterloo; John Siebert, Executive Director of Project Ploughshares; and Andrew Thompson, Director, Amnesty International Canada Board.
As we are currently in the midst of commemorating the 100th anniversary of World War I, PeaceQuest wants to use this as an opportunity to raise conversations about working towards peace. April 22nd- May 25th marks the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of 2nd Ypres, and so PeaceQuest KW seeks to hold a conversation about the complex nature of war around this prominent anniversary. To quote PeaceQuest KW facilitator Emily Mininger, “Instead of glorifying our past conflicts, we should be motivated by horrific violence to ensure that it never happens again. PeaceQuest encourages Canadians to reflect on how we can learn from these tragedies to build a brighter future.”
Much of the time, news and popular media, war is painted as a black and white image- us vs. them, evil vs. good, hero vs. villain. As we’re commemorating the 100th anniversary of WWI, the “Great War” is often depicted as a just and noble war in which we heroically defeated the evils of the Central Powers. But is that really the case? Can a conflict that caused the deaths of over 9 million combatants and 7 million citizens truly be noble?
This panel discussion hopes to dig into a complicated reality, as we replace the monochromatic commemorative narrative with a full colour version that illustrates the true complexity of war from WWI to our present conflicts.
This event is being hosted in collaboration with PeaceQuest, Stirling Mennonite Church’s Peace and Justice Working Group, the MSCU Centre for Peace Advancement at Conrad Grebel University College, and Educators for Justice.
I will be writing letters of solidarity to prisoners of conscience on International Human Rights Day
