Sudbury Social Justice News - May 4, 2014

EVENTS & MEETINGS:

1) Monday, May 5: Meeting of Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty
2) Monday, May 5: Sustainable Transportation Presentation to City Committee
3) Tuesday, May 6: Town Hall With UK Disability/Anti-Poverty Activist Ellen Clifford
4) Tuesday, May 6: Meeting of Sudbury Cyclists Union
5) Wednesday, May 7: Meeting of the Sudbury Working-Group of The Media Co-op
6) Saturady, May 10: Eat Local Sudbury AGM
7) Wednesday, May 14: Screening of *A Wives Tale*
8) Saturday, May 31: Seedling Swap & Sale

NEWS, ANALYSIS & CALLS TO ACTION:

1) "This International Workers' Day: Support, don't deport!" by No One Is Illegal

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Monday, May 5: Meeting of Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty

Time: 6:30pm
Location: Offices of the Sudbury and District Labour Council (Suite 209 upstairs in 109 Elm Street, which is across the street from the Native Friendship Centre)

The venue is wheelchair accessible. Children are welcome to attend, or childcare support is available upon request. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. If you arrive late and doors are locked, please call the S-CAP phone (249-878-7227).

S-CAP is a direct-action anti-poverty organization based in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. We provide direct-action support work assisting individuals in their struggles with welfare and ODSP, housing, employers, and others who deny people what they are entitled to in order to meet their needs. In addition, we mount campaigns against and support educational work about regressive government policies as they effect working people and people living in poverty. We believe in the power of people to organize themselves. We believe in the power of resistance!

La coalition contre la pauvreté de Sudbury (S-CAP) est un organisme d’action directe luttant contre la pauvreté. Elle se trouve à Sudbury en Ontario.

Le travail de la coalition se base dans l’action directe et consiste à apporter de l’aide aux individus dans leurs luttes pour l’assistance sociale, l’invalidité, le logement, l’emploi et à les aider à faire face aux gens qui leur refusent ce à quoi ils ont droit pour rencontrer leurs besoins. De plus, la coalition fait des compagnes de sensibilisation et de dénonciation par rapport aux politiques gouvernementales régressives quant à leurs effets sur les travailleurs et travailleuses et les personnes vivant dans la pauvreté.

La coalition croit au pouvoir des personnes de s’organiser elles-mêmes; elle croit au pouvoir de la résistance!

Please call us (249-878-7227)

Email us at sudburyCAP@gmail.com

S-CAP on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/257339454351403/
 

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Monday, May 5: Sustainable Transportation Presentation to City Committee

Time: 4pm
Location: Room C-11, Tom Davies Square (200 Brady Street, Sudbury)

The Sustainable Mobility Plan will be presenting their annual report to city council's Community Services Committee.

SMAP is the author of the Sustainable Mobility Plan, written in 2010, which was received by the City (although not formerly adopted). The intent was to help guide the implementation of sustainable transportation in the City, including active transportation. Along with the report, they suggested an Active Transportation Network (ATN) map, which was used as a basis for the ATN map that was suggested by the City as part of the Transportation Study. You can find the report and map here: http://sudburycyclistsunion.ca/.../2014/03/susplan.pdf and http://sudburycyclistsunion.ca/.../02/SMP-Appendices.pdf.

Their final presentation after 4 years of operation will be a review of the Sustainable Mobility Plan (SMP) and a scorecard of what's been accomplished. Come out to hear their recommendations and support safe cycling in Sudbury!

This event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1443963165846445/

 
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Tuesday, May 6: Town Hall With UK Disability/Anti-Poverty Activist Ellen Clifford

Time: 7 pm
Location: Kinsmen Room A of the Parkside Older Adult Centre (140 Durham Street, Sudbury)

The Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty (S-CAP) will be hosting Ellen Clifford from Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) of the UK at a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, May 6, 2014.  This is part of an Ontario-wide speaking tour organised by the Raise the Rates Campaign that will be visiting Toronto, Kitchener, Sudbury, North Bay, Kingston and Ottawa.

Who is DPAC:  The Cameron Government in the UK has implemented brutal cuts to programs for unemployed and disabled people.  This includes a system called the Work Capability Assessment that has been used to deny benefits to thousands of people. Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) is an organization in the UK that has been at the forefront of challenging this situation.  It has mobilized disabled people to fight back and formed alliances with community organizations and unions in resisting the austerity measures of the Cameron Government.  The hated private company, Atos, that was carrying out the assessments of sick and disabled people has been forced to quit as a result of the powerful resistance DPAC and others have taken up.

Here in Ontario, we also face major attacks. Ontario Works (Welfare) and ODSP (Disability) rates are too low to enable people to pay their rent and eat properly. The Special Diet and Community Start Up have been slashed by the Ontario Liberal government. And now, based on recent reports, there is a very real threat that the Government here will now move to merge OW and ODSP and bring in a UK style assessment system.  We need to understand what is happening elsewhere and how people are fighting back and winning against the attacks. Austerity is global – but so is our resistance.

Ellen Clifford has been campaigning with the disabled people’s movement for 15 years and, since 2011, has sat on the National Steering Committee of DPAC.  She is also a member of Unite the Union and works to build solidarity between workers in unions and those forced to live on social benefits.

Everyone is welcome to join us. A light snack will be served.

For more information, please visit the SCAP website at sudburycap.com or reach us by phone at 249.878.7227 or by e-mail at sudburycap@gmail.com.

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Le 6 mai prochain La coalition anti-pauvreté de Sudbury reçoit l’activiste Ellen Clifford du mouvement britannique contre les coupures aux prestations d’invalidité, Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC). Il y aura une réunion publique à la salle Kinsmen A du centre Parkside Older Adult Centre, rue Durham à 19 h. Tout le monde est le bienvenu. Une légère collation sera servie.

Le mouvement DPAC.   Le gouvernement Cameron au Royaume-Uni a fait des coupures draconiennes aux programmes pour les sans-emplois et les personnes handicapées. Cela comprend un système de réévaluation axée sur l’aptitude au travail qui a servi à refuser des prestations d’invalidité à des milliers et des milliers de gens.  Le mouvement Disabled People Against the Cuts est l’un des groupes menant la lutte contre cette situation. Il a organisé la résistance des personnes handicapées et bâti des liens avec des organismes communautaires et syndicaux pour combattre les mesures d’austerité du gouvernement Cameron. La compagnie privée ATOS détestée en raison de ses réévaluations des gens malades et handicapées a été obligée de démissionner à cause de la forte opposition menée par DPAC et ses alliés.

En Ontario nous aussi faisons face à des attaques importantes.  Les taux de l’aide sociale (Ontario au travail, OT) et de l’invalidité (Programme ontarien du soutien aux personnes handicapées) sont trop bas pour permettre aux récipiendaires de payer leur loyer ou manger comme il faut.  Le gouvernement libéral a sabré dans les prestations pour régime alimentaire spécial et éliminé le soutien au loyer (Prestation pour l’établissement d’un nouveau domicile et le maintien dans la collectivité). Et selon des rapports récents il y a la menace bien réelle de l’adoption d’un système de réévaluation à la britannique par le gouvernement. C’est pour cela qu’il est nécessaire de comprendre ce qui arrive ailleurs au monde et comment on mobilise l’opposition à ces attaques pour bâtir une résistance efficace.

Ellen Clifford milite au sein du mouvement des personnes handicapées au Royaume-Uni depuis 15 ans.  Elle siège au comité de direction nationale de DPAC depuis 2011.  Elle est aussi membre du regroupement Unite the Union et travaille à bâtir des liens de solidarité entre les travailleurs syndiqués et ceux qui sont obligés à vivre sur l’aide sociale. Sa visite a lieu dans le cadre d’une tournée ontarienne organisée par la campagne pour une augmentation du salaire minimum et une hausse des taux de l’aide sociale.  La tournée se rendra à Toronto, Kitchener, Sudbury, North Bay, Ottawa et Kingston entre autres.

Pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez contacter S-CAP au 249-878-7227.
 

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Tuesday, May 6: Meeting of Sudbury Cyclists Union

Time: 7pm to 9pm
Location: reThink Green (Suite 305, 176 Larch Street, Sudbury)

Agenda TBA.

This event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/600471723355643/

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Wednesday, May 7: Meeting of the Sudbury Working-Group of The Media Co-op

Time: 10am to noon
Location: meeting room #1, downstairs, main branch of the Sudbury Public Library (74 Mackenzie Street, Sudbury)
 
Everyone is welcome to join us for our meeting from 10am to at the main branch of the Greater Sudbury Public Library.
 
The Sudbury working group of The Media Co-op wants to support people in creating independent media in the North, to speak to our issues and outlooks on our communities as well as the world around us. Independent media provides an avenue for people who are wishing to gain critical perspective on the issues that matter most to us, and to give a voice to those people and stories that you won't find in the mainstream media.
 
Find our site at:
http://sudbury.mediacoop.ca/
 
Our new callout for content, some of which we might even be able to pay for:
http://sudbury.mediacoop.ca/blog/grassrootssudburymedia/19108
 
Contact the Sudbury Working Group to learn more about writing for us or to let us know about community issues and events at:
grassrootssudburymedia@gmail.com
 
Find us on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/GrassrootsMediaCollective

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Saturady, May 10: Eat Local Sudbury AGM

Time: Brunch at 11:30am, meeting from 1pm to 2:30pm
Location: The Motley Kitchen (70 Young Street, Sudbury)

All members of the Eat Local Sudbury Co-operative are invited to attend the co-op's annual general meeting. It will be great to share food, build community and plan for the exciting year of 2014/15.

Brunch will be served at 11:30am, and the meeting starts at 1pm.

If you are planning on attending, please RSVP to info@eatlocalsudbury.com by Wednesday, May 7.

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Wednesday, May 14: Screening of *A Wives Tale*

Time: 6pm
Location: meeting room #1, downstairs, main branch of the Sudbury Public Library (74 Mackenzie Street, Sudbury)

“A WIVES' TALE is a 73-minute film about the women who supported the 1978 strike of the Sudbury miners against Inco. It is the most ambitious labour film to be shot in Canada in recent years, certainly the most ambitious in English-speaking Canada since the early days of Evelyn and Lawrence Cherry and their agrarian populist films of the forties in Regina. Although shot in Sudbury, A WIVES' TALE is not an English Canadian production. Sudbury, Ontario, has a large francophone population, a fact strongly reflected in the structure of the film. A WIVES' TALE is a bilingual film, released first in French in Montreal, and very much in the tradition of militant Québec cinema — the executive producer was Arthur Lamothe, whose film LE MEPRIS N'AURA QU'UN TEMPS (HELL NO LONGER) remains a landmark of radical documentary. However, unlike most Québec militant films and unlike most labour-oriented documentaries made in English in Canada and elsewhere, A WIVES' TALE is pre-eminently, self-consciously, happily, and proudly a feminist film, insisting on the priority of women's experience and women's wide-ranging voices and visions as its perspective on the strike.

The Inco strike made labour history in Canada. It was originally provoked by the company in order to dispose of a nickel stockpile, on the evident assumption that a few months on picket lines would deplete the union treasury and the energies of the workers so that they would crawl back to work whenever into offered some paltry concessions. This did not happen — the strikers held out for eight and a half months, until they were offered a contract that made the strike worthwhile. The main reason they were able to hold out for so long was that they were solidly backed by the Wives Supporting the Strike Committee. The Wives raised money for special needs; organized a Christmas party that gave out 10,000 toys; held suppers and sales; ran a thrift shop; developed a clear analysis of the reasons for the strike; and gave financial, emotional, and physical support, which for once they themselves understood to be invaluable. The most important accomplishment of the women who organized in Sudbury, as their experience is presented by the film, was the validation of the work women do, and the skills women have, and the right of women to speak on their own behalf. The most difficult challenge for the filmmakers, aside from the usual impossible hardships faced by radical artists here and everywhere, was to make this self-validation interesting and accessible on film.”

This screening of A Wives’ Tale is presented by One Struggle Sudbury. This film is a local example of how struggle can be waged inside of class struggles, and it is in this spirit which we present the film. One Struggle believes all struggles – including but not limited to patriarchy, racism, homophobia, immigrant oppression, colonialism, imperialism, and ecocide – are rooted in capitalist domination, and therefore, we want to build a combative mass movement against capitalism. If interested, please read our Points of Unity: http://onestruggle.net/points-of-unity/.

For more information contact Rachael Charbonneau 705-670-1982 or rachaelcharbonneau@vianet.ca.
 
To join or share on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/796815000349571/

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Saturday, May 31: Seedling Swap & Sale

Time: 10am to 2pm
Location: Eat Local Sudbury Co-operative (176 Larch Street, Sudbury)

If you want to seed swap with other local gardeners or would like to purchase locally grown seedlings by donation- come visit Eat Local Sudbury on Saturday, May 31, 2014 between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Are you thinking about starting some seeds indoors or in a greenhouse this year for transplanting outside into your garden? Check out this seed starting calculator: http://awaytogarden.com/when-to-start-seeds-calculator/

The "average" last frost date for our region is May 17th (according to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and food http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/climzoneveg.htm ) this date will let you get an idea of what date you should start your seedlings for planting outdoors!

This event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/306888519463529/

NEWS, ANALYSIS & CALLS TO ACTION:

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"This International Workers' Day: Support, don't deport!"
by No One Is Illegal
(Original with lots of links to background: http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/no-one-illegal/2014/05/this-internationa...)