Monday, 27 February 2012
No Mining on Sacred Lands! Support KI Indigenous Nation on March 5th
No Mining on Sacred Lands!
KI Speaks Out Against God's Lake Resources and McGuinty government.
KI Speaks Out Against God's Lake Resources and McGuinty government.
KI LEADERS SPEAK, NEW VIDEO LAUNCHED
Monday March 5, 2012; 6:30pm
Steelworkers' Hall - 25 Cecil Street, Downtown Toronto
Steelworkers' Hall - 25 Cecil Street, Downtown Toronto
RALLY AND MARCH WITH KI
Tuesday March 6, 2012; 12:30 p.m. - 255 Front St. W.
N.B. Come early at 11:30 to participate in the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network actions http://www.facebook.com/events/278041455596726/.
God's Lake Resources Inc., a mining exploration company, is threatening to re-enter the Homeland of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) Indigenous Nation this month to resume exploring on sacred burial grounds. KI has told God's Lake Resources that they are not welcome on their Homeland. Ontario has refused to step in and stop the exploration and KI is calling for public support and mobilization, particularly in Toronto and Southern Ontario.
As part of this broader mobilization, the Toronto KI Support Group, CUPE 3902, OPIRG U of T, the University of Toronto Graduate Students' Union, Earthroots, Mining Watch Canada, and Council of Canadians are organizing a speaking event on March 5, 2012 at the Steelworkers' Hall at 25 Cecil Street in Toronto.
At these events KI leaders will speak to the public about the situation they are facing with God's Lake Resources Inc. and about KI’s bold vision for their homeland and environment..
Saturday, 25 February 2012
1 March 2012: A Night To Remember - Fundraiser for Migrant Worker Families
A fundraiser has been announced at the Lula Lounge for the families of the Peruvian agricultural workers killed in the Hampstead vehicle accident on February 6th:
What:
A Night to Remember
Fundraiser for Migrant Worker Families
Featuring live Peruvian music
Donation $20
Where:
Lula Lounge
1535 Dundas At. West
When:
Thursday, March 1st
Doors open at 7:00
For more details, see the Lula Lounge's A Night To Remember event page here.
What:
A Night to Remember
Fundraiser for Migrant Worker Families
Featuring live Peruvian music
Donation $20
Where:
Lula Lounge
1535 Dundas At. West
When:
Thursday, March 1st
Doors open at 7:00
For more details, see the Lula Lounge's A Night To Remember event page here.
Labels: Lula Lounge, mi
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Ontario Mapuche Support Group Presentation; 24 February 2012
THE ONTARIO MAPUCHE SUPPORT GROUP INVITES YOU TO A PRESENTATION AND CONVERSATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE MAPUCHE SITUATION WITH JOSE AYLWIN: Co-Director of Observatorio Ciudadano: Citizens' Watchdog in Temuco, Chile, Human Rights lawyer and Board Member of the North – South Institute.
OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, on Thursday, February 24, at 6:00 PM.
Jose Aylwin is a human rights lawyer from Chile, specializing in Indigenous peoples and citizens' rights in Latin America. He is currently the acting Co-Director of the Observatorio Ciudadano (Citizens' Watch), an NGO which promotes the protection of human rights in Chile (www.observatorio.cl). His research has been published by many different organizations including the University of La Frontera, Chile, the United Nations (ECLAC), the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights, IWGIA (Denmark), and the University of Montana, on topics including Indigenous peoples' land rights, ombudsmanship in Latin America, globalization and human rights in Latin America and human rights in Chile. Mr. Aylwin graduated in legal and juridical studies at the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile in Santiago and obtained a Master’s Degree from the School of Law at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada. He also teaches Indigenous Peoples' Rights at the School of Law at the Universidad Austral de Chile, in Valdivia, Chile
The North-South Institute is Canada's oldest independent policy research institution specializing in effective international development. At NSI we focus on identifying policies and practices seeking to reduce poverty and global inequalities thereby contributing to the creation of a more prosperous and stable global community.
The Mapuche make up 87 percent of indigenous people in Chile and one million of the country’s 16 million people. Their ancestral territory spans the southern tip of South America across Argentina and Chile. Most of the Mapuche territory was lost in the late 19th century through abusive measures and harassment in the so called “Pacificacion de la Araucania” by successive governments. Later, particularly under the Pinochet regime, international forestry and mining companies were offered incentives to operate in the Araucania region, as a result, indigenous communities who generally have no formal land titles to their ancestral properties, have been increasingly forced off their land. The Chilean state has labeled the Mapuche struggle as “terrorist activities” and has repressed it with “anti-terrorist laws” established during the Pinochet Dictatorship. This repressive legislation has only been used by the Chilean State in post-dictatorship time against the First Nations and their supporters, except for one case. Accusations of terrorism “justify” long secret investigations that can last years and make access to a fair trial almost impossible. The anti-terrorist laws include practices such as long periods of arrest on remand, “protected witnesses”: prosecutors present witnesses with concealed identity and “double trials”, where the accused are condemned in civil and military courts resulting in heavier sentences.
The government’s treatment of the Mapuches violates many UN International accords including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the ILO Convention 169.
The aim of the Ontario Mapuche Support Group is to assist with the legal costs of their trials. Very few lawyers step up to defend Mapuches because they must work without pay since most of those accused are very poor and those in prison are often the only source of income for their families. It also means that those defending Mapuches are later ostracized from further legal work and even become a target of the state, a case in point: the lawyer Karina Riquelme who became well known for her defense of Mapuche minors accused of terrorism, she is now accused of having practiced as a lawyer just before fully completing her degree.
In 2008, Canadian outward foreign direct investment in Chile was measured at $8.346 billion. Canada's priority sectors in Chile are among those that have most aggravated the Mapuche conflicts, including mining, forestry, fishing and agricultural industries.
* Demand that the Canadian Government ensures that Canadian companies working abroad comply with the regulations regarding protection of peoples and their environment as established in Canada.
* Become an International Observer of the Mapuche trials
* Support the costs of the Mapuche’s legal defense
* Join the Ontario Mapuche Support Group: call (416) 441-1872
Labels: Ontario Mapuche Support Group
Feb.24, 2012 @6pm - THE ONTARIO MAPUCHE SUPPORT GROUP INVITES YOU TO A PRESENTATION AND CONVERSATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE MAPUCHE SITUATION WITH JOSE AYLWIN:
THE ONTARIO MAPUCHE SUPPORT GROUP INVITES YOU TO A PRESENTATION AND CONVERSATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE MAPUCHE SITUATION WITH JOSE AYLWIN: Co-Director of Observatorio Ciudadano: Citizens' Watchdog in Temuco, Chile, Human Rights lawyer and Board Member of the North – South Institute.
Room 5-260. OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, on Thursday, February 24, at 6:00 PM.
Jose Aylwin is a human rights lawyer from Chile, specializing in Indigenous peoples and citizens' rights in Latin America. He is currently the acting Co-Director of the Observatorio Ciudadano (Citizens' Watch), an NGO which promotes the protection of human rights in Chile (www.observatorio.cl). His research has been published by many different organizations including the University of La Frontera, Chile, the United Nations (ECLAC), the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights, IWGIA (Denmark), and the University of Montana, on topics including Indigenous peoples' land rights, ombudsmanship in Latin America, globalization and human rights in Latin America and human rights in Chile. Mr. Aylwin graduated in legal and juridical studies at the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile in Santiago and obtained a Master’s Degree from the School of Law at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada. He also teaches Indigenous Peoples' Rights at the School of Law at the Universidad Austral de Chile, in Valdivia, Chile.
The North-South Institute is Canada's oldest independent policy research institution specializing in effective international development. At NSI we focus on identifying policies and practices seeking to reduce poverty and global inequalities thereby contributing to the creation of a more prosperous and stable global community.
Brief Summary of the Mapuche situation.
The Mapuche make up 87 percent of indigenous people in Chile and one million of the country’s 16 million people. Their ancestral territory spans the southern tip of South America across Argentina and Chile. Most of the Mapuche territory was lost in the late 19th century through abusive measures and harassment in the so called “Pacificacion de la Araucania” by successive governments. Later, particularly under the Pinochet regime, international forestry and mining companies were offered incentives to operate in the Araucania region, as a result, indigenous communities who generally have no formal land titles to their ancestral properties, have been increasingly forced off their land. The Chilean state has labeled the Mapuche struggle as “terrorist activities” and has repressed it with “anti-terrorist laws” established during the Pinochet Dictatorship. This repressive legislation has only been used by the Chilean State in post-dictatorship time against the First Nations and their supporters, except for one case. Accusations of terrorism “justify” long secret investigations that can last years and make access to a fair trial almost impossible. The anti-terrorist laws include practices such as long periods of arrest on remand, “protected witnesses”: prosecutors present witnesses with concealed identity and “double trials”, where the accused are condemned in civil and military courts resulting in heavier sentences.
The government’s treatment of the Mapuches violates many UN International accords including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the ILO Convention 169.
The aim of the Ontario Mapuche Support Group is to assist with the legal costs of their trials. Very few lawyers step up to defend Mapuches because they must work without pay since most of those accused are very poor and those in prison are often the only source of income for their families. It also means that those defending Mapuches are later ostracized from further legal work and even become a target of the state, a case in point: the lawyer Karina Riquelme who became well known for her defense of Mapuche minors accused of terrorism, she is now accused of having practiced as a lawyer just before fully completing her degree.
In 2008, Canadian outward foreign direct investment in Chile was measured at $8.346 billion. Canada's priority sectors in Chile are among those that have most aggravated the Mapuche conflicts, including mining, forestry, fishing and agricultural industries.
How can you help change this situation?
* Demand that the Canadian Government ensures that Canadian companies working abroad comply with the regulations regarding protection of peoples and their environment as established in Canada.
* Become an International Observer of the Mapuche trials
* Support the costs of the Mapuche’s legal defense
* Join the Ontario Mapuche Support Group: call (416) 441-1872
Room 5-260. OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, on Thursday, February 24, at 6:00 PM.
Jose Aylwin is a human rights lawyer from Chile, specializing in Indigenous peoples and citizens' rights in Latin America. He is currently the acting Co-Director of the Observatorio Ciudadano (Citizens' Watch), an NGO which promotes the protection of human rights in Chile (www.observatorio.cl). His research has been published by many different organizations including the University of La Frontera, Chile, the United Nations (ECLAC), the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights, IWGIA (Denmark), and the University of Montana, on topics including Indigenous peoples' land rights, ombudsmanship in Latin America, globalization and human rights in Latin America and human rights in Chile. Mr. Aylwin graduated in legal and juridical studies at the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile in Santiago and obtained a Master’s Degree from the School of Law at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada. He also teaches Indigenous Peoples' Rights at the School of Law at the Universidad Austral de Chile, in Valdivia, Chile.
The North-South Institute is Canada's oldest independent policy research institution specializing in effective international development. At NSI we focus on identifying policies and practices seeking to reduce poverty and global inequalities thereby contributing to the creation of a more prosperous and stable global community.
Brief Summary of the Mapuche situation.
The Mapuche make up 87 percent of indigenous people in Chile and one million of the country’s 16 million people. Their ancestral territory spans the southern tip of South America across Argentina and Chile. Most of the Mapuche territory was lost in the late 19th century through abusive measures and harassment in the so called “Pacificacion de la Araucania” by successive governments. Later, particularly under the Pinochet regime, international forestry and mining companies were offered incentives to operate in the Araucania region, as a result, indigenous communities who generally have no formal land titles to their ancestral properties, have been increasingly forced off their land. The Chilean state has labeled the Mapuche struggle as “terrorist activities” and has repressed it with “anti-terrorist laws” established during the Pinochet Dictatorship. This repressive legislation has only been used by the Chilean State in post-dictatorship time against the First Nations and their supporters, except for one case. Accusations of terrorism “justify” long secret investigations that can last years and make access to a fair trial almost impossible. The anti-terrorist laws include practices such as long periods of arrest on remand, “protected witnesses”: prosecutors present witnesses with concealed identity and “double trials”, where the accused are condemned in civil and military courts resulting in heavier sentences.
The government’s treatment of the Mapuches violates many UN International accords including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the ILO Convention 169.
The aim of the Ontario Mapuche Support Group is to assist with the legal costs of their trials. Very few lawyers step up to defend Mapuches because they must work without pay since most of those accused are very poor and those in prison are often the only source of income for their families. It also means that those defending Mapuches are later ostracized from further legal work and even become a target of the state, a case in point: the lawyer Karina Riquelme who became well known for her defense of Mapuche minors accused of terrorism, she is now accused of having practiced as a lawyer just before fully completing her degree.
In 2008, Canadian outward foreign direct investment in Chile was measured at $8.346 billion. Canada's priority sectors in Chile are among those that have most aggravated the Mapuche conflicts, including mining, forestry, fishing and agricultural industries.
How can you help change this situation?
* Demand that the Canadian Government ensures that Canadian companies working abroad comply with the regulations regarding protection of peoples and their environment as established in Canada.
* Become an International Observer of the Mapuche trials
* Support the costs of the Mapuche’s legal defense
* Join the Ontario Mapuche Support Group: call (416) 441-1872
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
"Toxic Trespass" Film Screening on 24 Feb 2012
WHEN: Women's Healthy Environments Network is hosting a screening of Toxic Trespass this week:
WHAT: Toxic Trespass Film Screening
WHEN: Friday, February 24, 2012, 6:00 - 8:30 pm
WHERE: Centre for Social Innovation 215 Spadina Ave. Suite 120 (1st floor) Toronto, Ontario. Wheelchair accessible.
HOW MUCH: This is a PWYC (Pay What You Can) event.
See the links above for more information.
WHAT: Toxic Trespass Film Screening
WHEN: Friday, February 24, 2012, 6:00 - 8:30 pm
WHERE: Centre for Social Innovation 215 Spadina Ave. Suite 120 (1st floor) Toronto, Ontario. Wheelchair accessible.
HOW MUCH: This is a PWYC (Pay What You Can) event.
See the links above for more information.
Labels: Toxic Trespass, Women's Healthy Environments Network
Monday, 13 February 2012
Big Carrot & Edible Toronto sponsor 2012 Canadian Organic Grower's conference
Sponsors of the Canadian Organic Grower's 2012 conference, Your Food, Your Choice: The Value of Organic include The Big Carrot and Edible Toronto.
Advertised for "consumers and growers with an interest in healthy food that nourishes people and the environment," this Saturday conference promises to be informative, challenging and inspiring:
"If you value your food, you won't want to miss this conference. Why do organic strawberries cost so much? What is the difference between conventional and organic pricing? Will boycotts change the agricultural system? Can organic food be part of the solution to cancer? Are there organic fish? Hear these panels and the story of how one 30 something writer from NY City lived her own story and became a farmer. Join us for practical answers to serious questions that won’t be green washed. It’s not about the money; it’s about your health and the future.
Advertised for "consumers and growers with an interest in healthy food that nourishes people and the environment," this Saturday conference promises to be informative, challenging and inspiring:
"If you value your food, you won't want to miss this conference. Why do organic strawberries cost so much? What is the difference between conventional and organic pricing? Will boycotts change the agricultural system? Can organic food be part of the solution to cancer? Are there organic fish? Hear these panels and the story of how one 30 something writer from NY City lived her own story and became a farmer. Join us for practical answers to serious questions that won’t be green washed. It’s not about the money; it’s about your health and the future.
Labels: Big Carrot, Canadian Organic Growers, Edible Toronto
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Be the Change You Want To See in the World ACTION ALERT: Benefit to Build a Tree Nursery in Ethiopia
In honour of Black History Month and in support of the Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief's Tree Nursery Project in Ethiopia, Anarres Natural Health will be hosting a Social Enterprise Soiree: a Benefit to Build a Tree Nursery in Ethiopia on Friday, 24 February 2012.
The event will include:
~ Live demonstrations using African Black Soap, the original Egyptian alchemical still invented by a woman, plus many African botanicals to try such as shea butter, frankincense resin, cypress essential oil.
~ Special guest Roxane Tracey of CPAR.ca - Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief - introducing us to problems and solutions for a healthy, prosperous and sustainable African continent.
~ Special guests from DragonflyDance.ca demonstrating classical north African belly dance and giving us a little lesson!
The event will include:
~ Live demonstrations using African Black Soap, the original Egyptian alchemical still invented by a woman, plus many African botanicals to try such as shea butter, frankincense resin, cypress essential oil.
~ Special guest Roxane Tracey of CPAR.ca - Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief - introducing us to problems and solutions for a healthy, prosperous and sustainable African continent.
~ Special guests from DragonflyDance.ca demonstrating classical north African belly dance and giving us a little lesson!
Labels: Anarres Natural Health
