POSTPONED: 2020 UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination — Cross Cultures

POSTPONED: The Cross Cultures UN Day will be rescheduled for a later date

Gehan Sabry writes:

due to the current situation, I am putting the event on hold, and hoping to re-schedule as soon as the corona virus pandemic subsides, at which time we hope that you will consider attending

take care

Gehan

Silent/Silenced | Niemoller's poem "In Germany, the Nazis came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist..."

Open Invitation

Come join us and be part of our TWENTIETH annual commemoration of the

UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DAY for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Saturday 21 March 2020
A full day public event noon to evening at Kitchener City Hall

Discrimination requires dialogue and education.

We do not limit the day to racism.

We invite presentations that address any forms of discrimination.

Confirmed so far:

  • Two international award winning special needs theatre productions coming to Kitchener

    It gives me great pride to include two international theatre productions — one from Egypt and one from the Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) who include a cast of special needs individuals allowing them to flourish and share their incredible talents — the productions are internationally acclaimed, they are award winners and have been honoured by many entities including the UN, professionals in the field from Europe and many others.

    (sign language and English subtitles provided)

  • Anti racism in education

  • Anti racism and Yoga meditation

  • KADAPUL

    55 minute film followed by an interactive discussion

    It is more than just a film. It is a medium and the impact of cinema that we can ascertain positive mindsets especially towards women. It deals with the real identity of women — through trials and tribulations — we still stand strong and powerful. It is a true validation to self. It is a movement of mindset — that defines beauty.

    Be it Puri (Odisha) or North America — the problems and the movement is the same.

Sponsor if you can !

Your assistance in connecting me with people who wish to be involved would be greatly appreciated!

  • Panelist on specific topic
  • speaker on specific topic
  • Cultural, ethic, artistic presentation, visual art show, music, instrument, group dance during the evening’s Peace Concert
  • Showcase your talent, skill, culture
  • Promote your organization / business
  • Have an information table
  • There is also an opportunity to sponsor in the printed program

And so much to come… stay tuned

Please contact Gehan Sabry if you wish to be part of the day’s events: crosscultures@bellnet.ca, founder, editor, publisher of Cross Cultures Magazine

Promoting mutual respect since 1991 as well as a radio show Cross Cultures on CKWR 98.5 FM, the local community radio station that has celebrated 46 years on the air !

2020 UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination — Cross Cultures

Photos from the #SchoolStrike4Climate on Friday, 1 March 2019 — #FridaysForFuture

On Friday, 1 March 2019 school students in Waterloo held a protest rally in front of Waterloo City Hall.

Pictures © 2019 by Tamara Lorincz, used by permission.

A note about Community Suppers from @AAP_KW

A note from Timothy Hegedus of Alliance Against PovertyAlliance Against Poverty:

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that the community suppers that used to be held at St Mark’s church on Wednesday evenings are now being held on Thursday evenings at Trillium Lutheran Church, 22 Willow Street, Waterloo, Ontario Map, phone 519‑886‑1880. (Trillium used be called St John’s Lutheran church.) It is fully accessible. The church is open on Thursday afternoons from 3:30 p.m. and dinner is served at 5:45 p.m. The Community Ministry Chaplain, Rev Susan Cole, is there between 3:30 and 7:00 p.m.

Please spread the word about this.

Thanks,
Tim

Alliance Against Poverty meets on the second Monday of the month, contact aap‑members@kwpeace.ca for more information.

#Bill66 — @BobJonkmanGPC’s submission to the Environmental Registry of Ontario

Stop Bill 66 | They say it's red tape. | To us, it's precious farmland. Bill 66 was introduced in the Ontario legislature just before the Christmas holidays. The short timeframe for discussion and consultation makes me think the legislators are trying to pass it before people have a chance to understand its effects. It is an omnibus bill, affecting dozens of different pieces of Ontario laws and regulations, many items of which are hidden behind indirect references, and all of which are to be voted on en masse. Omnibus bills tend to carry deleterious clauses which would never stand on their own, but which get passed only because of some other items in the same bill that are perceived to be more beneficial than the rest of the bill is bad.

A summary of Bill 66 is at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario website, called Bill 66, Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018

Commentary on Bill 66 is plentiful:

Bob Jonkman at the podium in the Woolwich Township Council Chamber, with Councillors, the Mayor, and staff in the background
Bob Jonkman Bill 66 delegation to Woolwich Township Council Committee of The Whole, Tuesday January 8th, 2019
Many groups joined together to provide information on Bill 66, and to make a concerted effort to bring our dissatisfaction to local municipal and provincial leaders. I made two delegations to Woolwich Township Council urging them to pass a resolution to reject Bill 66 and to pledge that if passed, not to use this legislation to bypass the environmental regulations currently in place. Woolwich did pass a resolution, but stopped short of adding the pledge not to use it.

The consultation period at the Ontario Environmental Registry ended yesterday, and below are the comments I made.

Bill 66 is a direct affront to the citizens of Ontario. Doug Ford made a pledge in May 2018 that the Green Belt areas would be not be subject to development. Now that Doug Ford is Premier of the Government of Ontario, I expect that pledge to be honoured.


Bill 66 affects existing laws and regulations at many Ministries, not just the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. It detrimentally affects the protections for workers in many separate regulations, detrimentally affects the protections for children in childcare, detrimentally affects seniors and patients in long-term care, and detrimentally affects consumers protections from wireless carriers. This is not an exhaustive list.


Bill 66 detrimentally affects environmental regulations more than any other. Under Schedule 10 municipalities no longer have to follow the regulations under the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Protection Act, Greenbelt Act, Lake Simcoe Protection Act, and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, among many others.


Ontario and its municipalities have experienced the greatest prosperity in the last ten years, without needing to circumvent the environmental protections put in place by previous Conservative and Liberal governments. Removing these protections now will pit one municipality against another — if one municipality allows development in a protected area, it creates pollution for all the downwind and downstream neighbours, both in that municipality as well as surrouding municipalities. There will be increased infrastructure costs for those municipalities that receive the extra traffic from the development, but none of the anticipated revenue. Bill 66 is not something municipalities have asked for for, nor is it something municipalities need.


Speculators may have purchased land in the currently protected areas. Just having Bill 66 on the table has affected land values. Currently permitted uses for protected areas will become unaffordable, and the pressure on local governments to bypass environmental protections will be great. I’m happy to see many municipalities have passed resolutions rejecting Bill 66.


The citizens of Ontario are clear: Bill 66, with all its recissions of existing laws, must not be passed. I hope the elected representatives in the Legislature will fulfill their mandate and represent their constituents’ demands to reject Bill 66.

Civic Hub – 2nd Small Groups Summit hosted by @SPCofKW

Dear All,

It has been a year since our initial mobilization around the idea of a Civic Hub. A number of us continued meeting throughout the 2018 and worked on grants, connections and the first vision statement: A home, a landmark, accessible to everyone interested in civic and grassroots groups to showcase what is being done in the community, to allow groups to support each other, recruit, communicate and build credibility and capacity for advocacy and delivery of services to the community.

The number of small groups and organizations interested in the initiative is growing. A number of projects bringing together ethnocultural groups in Waterloo Region in 2018 testified that common, affordable space is a foundation for communication, collaboration and growth for many groups who feel isolated, under-resourced and in constant competition for supports.

However, there is little understanding of the core work that civic groups and small non-profits do in Waterloo Region.

We can learn together with other non-profit networks who want to create hubs for their sectors, such as WR Environmental Network and WR Arts Council.

Our strength is in our diversity and our common vision.

On January 21st 2019, we will gather again to share updates and brainstorm ideas about the next steps in creation of a Civic Hub.


6pm at SDC Office Map
in St John Church,
23 Water St North in Kitchener
Entrance and doorbell on Duke St.

RSVP by January 15th. Please get in touch if you need more information or have ideas/comments to share before the 21st.

Wishing you only the best to come in 2019.
Warmest Holiday Regards,
Aleksandra Petrovic
—
Executive Director
Social Development Centre Waterloo Region
23 Water St. North, Kitchener ON, N2H 5A4
(entrance and doorbell on Duke Street)
Phone: 519-579-3800

Your Voice and Your Donation Count!
Give for A Better Common Future

We will gather again in the New Year! | Social Development Centre Waterloo Region office reopens on January 2nd 2018 (people sitting in a discussion group with notetakers in the background)

THREE climate events in Waterloo!! from @Eleanor70001

Eleanor Grant Eleanor Grant@Eleanor70001 writes:

7:00pm, Tues 8 Jan 2019 at Waterloo Square:
SOLIDARITY with BC First Nation!
Background: Gidimt’en in northern B.C. anticipating RCMP action over anti-pipeline camp (CBC)
Event: Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en (Facebook)

12:30pm, Fri 11 Jan 2019 at Waterloo City Hall:
FRIDAYS FOR A FUTURE
Youth Climate Strike, All welcome!
Event: Fridays for Future Climate Strike: Kitchener-Waterloo (Facebook)

7:00pm, Tues 15 Jan 2019 at Kitchener City Hall:
Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner DIANNE SAXE
Background: Ontario environment watchdogs say Doug Ford just gutted a law that protects your rights (National Observer)
Event: Stewards of Our Future: Protecting What We Love (Facebook)

AND A PETITION to save the Greenbelt:
Sign to STOP BILL 66: https://ontarionature.good.do/schedule10/sign/ (Do Gooder)

Thanks All, and please forward!
Eleanor Grant

Video: Perspectives On Peace — Where’s the Peace and Justice?

Perpectives On Peace: Where’s the Peace and Justice? was held on Saturday, 27 October 2018 at Kitchener City Hall.

Logo for Perspectives on PeaceSee the pictures from Perspectives On Peace — Where’s the Peace & Justice? Canada’s New Foreign and Defence Policies

The video is ©2018 by Laurel L. Russwurm and released under a Creative Commons Attribution Only (CC BY) license.

Christmas Dinner Plans

This post was mirrored from Christmas Dinner Plans by the Kitchener—Conestoga Greens.

Even if Mr Ford hadn’t decided to put a stop to the $15 dollar minimum wage, it wouldn’t have raised minimum wage earners above the Low Income Cutoff (LICO) for Waterloo Region. Although we’re told we ‘recovered’ from the recession of 2008, Canadians earning minimum wage nearly doubled (from 6% – 10%) between 2017 and 2018. Minimum wage jobs don’t just have low pay, very often they are for precarious work.

Although Waterloo Region is a rich community, many members of our community are financially strained during the holiday season. (And for the rest of the year, too.)

MYTH: Poverty is not an issue in Waterloo Region. More than 1 in 10 people in Waterloo Region live in poverty. REALITY: Although Waterloo Region is a great place to work, live and play, poverty is an issue in our community. In 2006, approximately 10.2 per cent of residents (48,000 people) in Waterloo Region were living with low income. Imagine - you could fill the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium seven times with this many people! Did you know... • 12.2% or 13,750 children 0 to 17 years in Waterloo Region are living in low income.2 • 451,411 meals were served in 2011 through meal programs throughout Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo.3 • In May 2013, there were 8,727 cases on the Ontario Works (OW) caseload. This is a 39% increase in the caseload from September 2008.
2013 Poverty Myth Busters for Waterloo Region (page 3)
Download the PDF

That’s why the Green Party supports raising the minimum wage to a living wage, and implementing a Guaranteed Livable Income (universal basic income set at 10% above LICO). You can find out more about Basic Income from our friends at Basic Income Waterloo.

Unfortunately that’s not going to happen until we start electing more Greens. In the meantime, people are living in poverty and Christmas is coming.

The following is a list of free Waterloo Region Christmas Dinner options for people in need. If you (or anyone you know) is in need of a good dinner over the holidays, please share. (And if you’re able I imagine these organizations would welcome volunteers.)

I’m not sure who originated this list (I received as a paper handout), but most of the dinner locations listed here are for the City of Kitchener. If you know of any others in the rest of the region– Cambridge, Waterloo or the Townships, please share and I’ll add them to the list.

Friday December 14th, 2018

Trinity United Church – Christmas Dinner Community Can Dine – Elmira, Ontario
6:00pm-7:30pm
21 Arthur St. N., Elmira Ontario

Saturday, December 15th, 2018

Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church – Regular Saturday Supper
open 5:00pm-8:00pm – Supper served 5:30-7:30pm
57 Stirling Avenue North, Kitchener

Sunday, December 16th, 2018

KCI Christmas Dinner
10:45am – 1:30pm
787 King Street W., Kitchener (enter off King Street)
Tickets available at St. John’s Kitchen or St Mark’s Church
(Limited tickets available last week of November and first week of December)

Thursday December 20th, 2018

St. John’s Kitchen – Festive Dinner
11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener

Friday December 21st, 2018

St. John’s Kitchen – Regular Hours
11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener

Saturday December 22nd, 2018

Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church – Regular Saturday Supper – open 5:00pm-8:00pm
Supper served 5:30-7:30pm
57 Stirling Avenue North, Kitchener

Sunday December 23rd, 2018

Caper’s Sports Bar – Christmas Dinner
Noon – 3:00pm
1 Queen Street North, Kitchener
*Toy and Clothing giveaway

Monday December 24th, 2018

St. John’s Kitchen – Festive Dinner
11:30am to 1:00pm
Meal by St Vincent de Paul
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener

Ray of Hope – Festive Dinner
7:00pm-8:30pm
659 King Street East, (Back Door) Kitchener

Tuesday December 25th, 2018

St. John’s Kitchen – Christmas Dinner by Friends of St John’s Kitchen
11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener

Ray of Hope – Regular Dinner
7:00pm-8:30pm
659 King Street East, (Back Door) Kitchener

Wednesday, December 26th, 2018

First United Church Christmas Buffet
11:30am-1pm
16 William Street, Waterloo

Thursday, December 27th, 2018

St. John’s Kitchen – Festive Dinner
11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener

Friday, December 28th, 2018

St. John’s Kitchen – Festive Dinner
11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener

Saturday, December 29th, 2018

Stirling Avenue Mennonite Church – Regular Saturday Supper
open 5:00pm-8:00pm – Supper served 5:30-7:30pm
57 Stirling Avenue North, Kitchener

Sunday December 30th, 2018

Ray of Hope – Lunch
Noon-1:30pm
659 King Street East, (Back Door) Kitchener

Monday, December 31, 2018

St. John’s Kitchen – Regular Hours
11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener

Tuesday, January 1st, 2018

St. John’s Kitchen CLOSED

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2018

St. John’s Kitchen – Regular Hours
11:30am to 1:00pm
97 Victoria Street North, Kitchener

–

Oz Cole-Arnal writes about Squirrel Hill

Baptismal Expectations — Now!

Oz Cole-Arnal holding a "Stop C51" sign
Oz Cole-Arnal
I was visiting my oldest son Bill and his partner Darlene when I heard the awful news of the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I felt gut-punched and burst into tears. With so much hatred in the world, with the “othering” of all God’s vulnerable — Jews, blacks, women, Muslims, immigrants, LGBTQ — reaching new heights of murderous invective and hate as the wave of neo-Fascism arising throughout the western democracies, this attack in Squirrel Hill struck me exceedingly close to home. I am an ex-American from Western Pennsylvania, roughly an hour by auto to Pittsburgh, yet the emotions involve a deeper gut-wrenching connection than the thirty-mile jaunt by car to that city. In the years of graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh (1970-1975) my wife and two boys lived in the Greenfield neighbourhood, immediately bordering Squirrel Hill, within easy walking distance. We would often walk and browse the shops in that lovely neighborhood, enjoy kosher baked goods, hearing yiddish that we could not understand but always welcomed by residents Jew and Gentile alike. Our landlord Ezra Stein, a practicing Jew, was gentle, kindly and fair with his rental charge. I remember fondly how he quickly repaired a broken pipe, working to get the job done quickly so that our newborn Brad could be warmed as soon as possible upon his arrival from the hospital. My academic mentor was Dr. Seymour Drescher, renowned scholar on abolition of the slave trade(s), who, with his wife Ruth, also practice their Jewish faith. Since that time we have become friends and colleagues. Add to that my doctoral thesis, the relationship between French Catholicism and the right-wing, horribly anti-Semitic Action Française, brought me deeply in touch with the so-called “Christian” legacy of anti-Judaism from the medieval pogroms to Hitler’s Final Solution. During my research in France I met Joel Blatt, another brother of Jewish background, and we remain in touch to this very day. So I cry out in outrage and have shed many tears against this murderous rampage in Squirrel Hill, beyond principle alone. It has grinded my very viscera.

Yes, I celebrate not only those Jewish brothers and sisters of Squirrel Hill who, instead of seeking even “appropriate” retribution have marshalled their forces collectively, in that locus and in my own Waterloo Region, along with Muslims, LBGTQ folk, a grand variety of faiths, including us “Christians”, to cry out NO MORE” to simple “eye for eye & tooth for tooth” but like the prophets of old have railed against evil (such as the hate fascism of Donald Trump, et. al., including his minions in our own land). Yet even louder have they embodied a massive solidarity in vigils that say, our collective voice of non-violent courage will stand tall against such fascist rebirth.

Chiefly though I call out to my fellow “followers” of the “Way” to remember the demands of their baptism to embody that ancient formula (Galatians 3:28) — “There is no longer Jew or Greek (Gentile), …slave or free,… male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” This text does not squash these separate identities into some kind of neutral category, but rather affirms that the character of each is embraced with fullness and acceptance, something that those vigils in my two countries (the U.S. and Canada) affirmed loudly. Yet vigils are not enough! We must daily find ways to roll back the encroaching fascism exploding in our midst, liberated into open violence by “hate” regimes, whether in France, Germany, the United States and Canada. We must, as my dear friend Rabbi David Levy chanted in Hebrew over against the attack on the poor in those Days of Action over two decades ago (Isaiah 58:6-7a): “Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice,… to let the oppressed go free…? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your houses?”, embody this daily. Our baptism is our pledge to stand tall and massively against any and all attacks on all who are “othered” and victimized in our society.

The Squirrel Hill violence reminds us yet again of the long history of our marginalized and murdered Jewish sisters and brothers. The Hitler ovens are not just past history. They lurk as hidden beasts, beginning to pounce again. And, of course, we who are Lutheran bear a heavier load of need to repentance, which means much more than the easy escape of a cheap confession of guilt. That Greek word of metanoia means “to turn one’s life around.” So, in our baptism we promise to embody this radical stance against “the Powers” and for the vulnerable. And, lest we forget, the one in whose name we were watered is Yeshua bar Miriam & Joseph, a Jew!

Photo cropped from Oz Cole-Arnal and Nadine, © 2015 by Laurel L. Russwurm, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Only (CC BY) 2.0 license.

Pictures: Perspectives On Peace 2018

Perspectives logo: Stylized dove with laurel leaves
Perspectives on Peace



On Saturday, 27 October 2018 KW Peace held the second Perspectives on Peace symposium. Lunch was provided at no cost thanks to the generosity and work of Kitchener Food Not Bombs.

People at Perspectives On Peace 2018, eating lunch provided by Food Not Bombs


People in discussion before the presentation

Emcee Sandee Lovas speaks with participants


Laura Hamilton at the microphone Sandee Lovas

Laura Hamilton gives the Land Acknowledgement, and emcee Sandy Lovas introduces the participating groups from KW Peace

Tamara Lorincz gives a presentation on The Climate and Environmental Impacts of the Canadian Military. Download the slides (PDF, 6.2 MBytes)


Participants at Perspectives On Peace 2018

Participants at Perspectives On Peace 2018 gather for a group photo


Perspectives On Peace 2018: Tamara Lorincz on Video

Video of Perspectives On Peace 2018 will be available soon

Photos copyright © 2018 by Laurel L. Russwurm, used under a CC BYCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Slides of The Climate and Environmental Impacts of the Canadian Military copyright © 2018 by Tamara Lorincz used by permission.