EVENTS & MEETINGS:
1) Monday, February 17: Meeting of Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty
2) Tuesday, February 25: Appeal Hearing for the S-CAP 11
3) Saturday, March 1: Omnibus March Against Stephen Harper - Sudbury
4) Saturday, March 1: Black History Month Celebration - Sudbury
5) Tuesday, March 4: Meeting of Sudbury Cyclist Union
6) Tuesday, March 18: Labour-sponsored Meeting to Stop Tim Hudak
NEWS, ANALYSIS, & CALLS TO ACTION:
None this week!
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Monday, February 17: 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)
Matters to be discussed include evaluating what happened at the City Community Services Committee, organizing against any ODSP/OW merger, our next support work drop-in and our continuing direct action support work.
The venue is wheelchair accessible. Children are welcome to attend, or childcare support is available upon request.
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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Tuesday, February 25: Appeal Hearing for the S-CAP 11
Time: 2pm
Location: Court Room B, Court House, 155 Elm Street
In 2012, eleven members and supporters of the Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty were arrested for setting up a homeless shelter in the office of Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci. In late 2013, the activists were acquitted, but the Crown has decided to appeal that ruling. The hearing will be on Feb. 25th at 2pm in Court Room B, Court House, 155 Elm Street. S-CAP regards this as a waste of resources and an attempt to intimidate activists. Please come out and show your support. For more information on the case, check out this link:
http://sudburycap.com/2013/11/25/s-cap-criticizes-campaign-harassment-an....
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Saturday, March 1: Omnibus March Against Stephen Harper - Sudbury
This is a call out to Northerners in the Sudbury Region! Bring all of your energy to Sudbury’s response to the March 1st National Day of Action denouncing Steven Harper’s Omnibus Bills and his growing Anti-Democratic Regime. We will rally and march together, and unite in spirit with others at home and abroad who will be rallying elsewhere the same day. The list of towns and cities committing to this cause is ever-growing! This is a very exciting and absolutely critical time to come together in the spirit of justice and peace in order to make our voices heard so we can protect our precious ecosystems & waterways, human rights, labour rights, farmers’ rights...the list goes on!
W̲h̲a̲t̲ ̲i̲s̲ ̲a̲n̲ ̲O̲m̲n̲i̲b̲u̲s̲ ̲B̲i̲l̲l̲ ̲a̲n̲d̲ ̲w̲h̲y̲ ̲i̲s̲ ̲i̲t̲ ̲P̲r̲o̲b̲l̲e̲m̲a̲t̲i̲c̲?̲
An omnibus bill seeks to amend, repeal, or enact several Acts under one bill. Instead of voting on each amendment to each act separately, the vote will be to pass the entire bill. The obvious issue here is that should a politician disagree with one amendment to a specific act, but agrees with the majority of the other amendments to other acts, she/he is likely to vote in favour of passing the bill despite this disparity. Omnibus Bills also cover an overwhelming number of amendments to several acts, making it a dense read for the public and making it harder for the public to get a good grasp on what is being changed. This allows the government to make large changes without properly informing the public or the media, an action that many consider undemocratic.
In fact, Stephen Harper himself recognized these problems in the past:
“Mr. Speaker, I would argue that the subject matter of the bill is so diverse that a single vote on the content would put members in conflict with their own principles.”
“…Second, in the interest of democracy I ask: How can members represent their constituents on these various areas when they are forced to vote in a block on such legislation and on such concerns? We can agree with some of the measures but oppose others. How do we express our views and the views of our constituents when the matters are so diverse? Dividing the bill into several components would allow members to represent views of their constituents on each of the different components in the bill.” - Stephan Harper, March 1994 (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/in-praise-of-stephen-harper-the-opposition-mp-who-fought-omnibus-bills/article5661305/)
Omnibus Bills are a mechanism of a system of government which consistently tries to keep the public in the dark. They are intentionally made to be dense, inaccessible documents that people will throw their hands up at, due to their nature. The number and nature of Omnibus Bills tabled and passed by the current government have presented some of the biggest challenges to keeping our planet safe, keeping our people safe, and keeping our country a thriving one.
T̲h̲e̲ ̲L̲a̲r̲g̲e̲r̲ ̲P̲i̲c̲t̲u̲r̲e̲
These issues related to omnibus bills are symptoms of a larger problem. The government is not working to meet our needs. We are seeing a hollowing out of democracy, with sham ‘consultations’ and the increasing corporatization of government. It is time for the government to begin advocating for people and the planet, instead of handing over unprecedented amounts of power and control to multinational corporations set on extracting resources until there is no oxygen left to breathe, and no potable water left to drink. If there has ever been a time to join with fellow humans to stand up for justice, democracy, transparency, and peace THIS IS THE TIME. The existence of life on Earth depends on it, and this is no exaggeration.
M̲a̲r̲c̲h̲ ̲1̲s̲t̲ ̲E̲v̲e̲n̲t̲ ̲D̲e̲t̲a̲i̲l̲s̲
We will rally at 12pm on Saturday March 1st at (location TBA). We will come together first for a teach-in featuring different speakers, and delight in some snacks and warm beverages and good old socializing! Then, empowered and satiated, we will take to the streets with our family and friends, make our voices heard, and join the rest of our country and the world in this epic day of resistance.
This event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1436654833233445/
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Saturday, March 1: Black History Month Celebration - Sudbury
Time: Cocktails @ 5:30pm, Speech @ 6:30pm, Dinner @ 7pm
Location: Upper Hall, Caruso Club (385 Haig Street, Sudbury) Tickets: $30 each, cash bar
The Afro-Heritage Association of Sudbury invites you to our Black History Month Celebration. The guest speaker will be Joseph W. Ricahrds II (LL.L., J.D., LL.M. (Cantab.), M.T.S.), Barrister and Soliciter at Law.
Event poster on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=617160898354984&set=a.4956154271...
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Tuesday, March 4: Meeting of Sudbury Cyclist Union
Time: 7pm
Location: reThink Green (Suite 305, 176 Larch Street, Sudbury)
Agenda TBA.
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Tuesday, March 18: Labour-sponsored Meeting to Stop Tim Hudak
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Location: Steelworkers' Hall (66 Brady Street, Sudbury)
Your Members Can’t Afford...
- Lower Wages - A Weaker Voice - Unsafe Workplaces
Help Stop Tim Hudak.
URGENT: All Unions, All Locals Sudbury Regional Meeting
Everyone Needed: All local union leaders, executive board members, staff, stewards, committee members, activists, retirees, etc.
Visit www.RightsatWork.ca for regional meetings and materials
Hosted by the Sudbury and District Labour Council, Ontario Federation of Labour and Canadian Labour Congress - Congrès du travail du Canada.
This event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1403652456559772/
The site for the Sudbury working-group of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.
The Sudbury working-group of The Media Co-op was formed to create 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.
The Sudbury working-group site is no longer being updated and has been archived.