Notes from the London Council of Canadians potluck on October 21, 2015 (including a letter to Justin re Protecting the Thames)

London Council of Canadians supporters collect water from the Thames River at the Forks.

Twenty two members celebrated the end of the Stephen Harper era at our October 21 potluck meeting held at the Mary Campbell Common Room. The room has a fresh coat of green paint and all chairs are new! It is a beautiful place to meet and we are indebted to Kathy Kaill for reserving it for us to use. Conversation was intense, and about the election of course. Thank you all for bringing such wonderful food to share. 

After we finished eating, the subject for discussion was “Where do we go from here?” Suggestions considered came from 350.org, the Council of Canadians, and the Green Party as well as others with proportional representation appearing at the top of most people’s lists.

 http://campaign2015.fairvote.ca 

Rod Morley volunteered to head up a group which would collect a bottle of Thames River water to deliver to Justin Trudeau on Nov. 7 as part of a “Climate Welcome” gift. 

http://climatewelcome.ca/water 

Rod wrote, and Meg edited, a letter (see below) from our chapter to Prime Minister Trudeau asking him to protect our river from toxic oil spills. Dimitri Lascaris agreed to accept the bottle of water and deliver it and our letter personally when he goes to Ottawa. 

We had a guest, Jim Joyce, formerly from London, who plans to relocate here from Yellowknife and wants to become active with our chapter. In Yellowknife they are opposing fracking. Jim serves as Treasurer for the Yellowknife chapter. 

Upcoming events: 

 1) The next monthly event will be our annual AGM, November 18, with our business meeting at 6:30 pm and our potluck at 7:30. It will be at the Mary Campbell Co-op common room. 

 2) Climate Rally in solidarity with the Paris Climate Conference - Victoria Park - Nov. 29 - 1 - 4pm 

 3) “This Changes Everything” a film by Avi Lewis and Naomi Kline, will have its London debut on Dec. 7 as part of our Cinema Politica program of monthly documentaries. Venue and details will follow. 

Roberta Cory, Chair 
London Chapter, Council of Canadians 

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October 26, 2015 

Dear Justin, 

We, the Council of Canadians London Chapter, are writing to you today and sending along a water sample from the former Heritage River known as the Antler/Thames River from Southwestern Ontario. We are providing this gift to you to remind you of your pledge to safeguard Canada’s bodies of water. 

We in Southwestern Ontario are deeply concerned about the possible environmental damage that could occur to Antler/Thames River should the Line 9 pipeline rupture where it crosses this once protected waterway. The Line 9 pipeline is over forty years old and was never purposed to transport the heavy and toxic diluted bitumen that it is now authorized to carry. 

Many of us in Southwestern Ontario do not want to see the repeat of tragedy that occurred near Kalamazoo Michigan just over five years ago when the Line 6B pipeline ruptured, spilling diluted bitumen into the Kalamazoo River. The Line 9 pipeline was built at the same time, and was built with the same materials and safeguards as Line 6B. We wouldn’t want to see the same devastating result here in Canada, and would hold your two new London MPs responsible should they not heed our warnings and work to stop this accident waiting to happen. It isn't a matter of if it happens – it's when.  

The good people of Southwestern Ontario would love to open up a dialogue with a representative of your government to see if we could come up with alternatives to seeing the start of diluted bitumen – dilbit - being transported through this pipeline. We would love to see if we could come up with new ways to power Canada’s prosperity, without destroying the environmental treasure that is Southwestern Ontario. 

Yours in hope,

Council of Canadians London Chapter http://www.londoncouncilofcanadians.ca/

CINEMA POLITICA presents: SILENCE IS GOLD

SILENCE IS GOLD

Monday 
January 12, 2015 London Public Library 
Central Branch 
251 Dundas St. 
Stevenson and Hunt Room 

Doors open 6:00 pm for set-up

After introductory remarks, the film will start at 7:00 sharp. 

Late comers please enter through the door at the back of the room. 

Everyone is welcome! 
This is a FREE event offered by Cinema Politica in parternership with the London Public Library. 

FRAGRANCE FREE EVENT! Please be respectful of attendees who have serious allergies! 

Details: http://www.cinemapolitica.org/london 

After Alain Deneault wrote an exposé of corruption and crime in Africa called Noir Canada, he and his publisher were threatened with a defamation suit by the world’s largest gold mining firm, the Canadian company Barrick Gold. Despite the threat, they still believed public debate was possible, so they decided to proceed with publication. Deneault and his collaborators soon found themselves mired in a legal hell that showed them what 21st-century censorship is all about. For four years, Julien Fréchette patiently followed all the twists and turns of the Noir Canada affair and the debate over strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). This gripping legal thriller sheds light on major issues of concern to us all. (NFB Canada)

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January 5, 2015 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

In conjunction with the London Public Library (londonpubliclibrary.ca), Cinema Politica London (cinemapolitica.org/london) presents the documentary film Silence is Gold, about one of Canada’s largest mining companies attempt to silence an exposé of Canadian mining practices in Africa. 

In 2008 Alain Deneault co-wrote Noir Canada: Pillage, corruption et criminalité, a book highly critical of the Canadian mining industry in Africa. Prior its launch, Noir Canada publishers Les Éditions Écosociété Inc. received a letter from Canadian gold mining giant Barrick Gold, threatening legal action for alleged false information and libel. The launch was postponed but not before Écosociété had distributed nearly 2,000 copies of the book. Barrick then filed a libel suit for $6 million against the writers and the publisher.  

The case is considered by many to be a prime example of a “strategic lawsuit against public participation”(SLAPP). In 2011 the Quebec Superior Court ruled that "Barrick seems to be trying to intimidate authors", that the suit was "seemingly abusive", and that Barrick must pay the authors and publisher $143,000 to prepare their defense. Later that year Deneault and his team, exhausted by the court proceedings, reached an out of court settlement with Barrick. 

During the process, however, a coalition of activists began to push for anti-SLAPP legislation and in 2009 Quebec adopted an anti-SLAPP bill, a landmark piece of legislation protecting freedom of speech in Québec. 

For four years film directorJulien Fréchette followed the proceedings, documenting each legal twist and turn, revealing just how far the Canadian mining industry is willing to go to silence criticism of its mining practices. 

Professor Lorraine McNeil admits she is not surprised by Barrick Gold’s tactics: “This is not the first time a Canadian mining company is accused of abusive practices”. In fact, members of the indigenous Mayan Q’eqchi’ from Guatemala have filed three lawsuits in Ontario courts against Canadian mining company HudBay Minerals over the brutal and abusive treatment of several of its members. The abuses are alleged to have been committed by mine company security personnel at HudBay’s former mining project in Guatemala.
http://www.chocversushudbay.com/ 

Silence is Gold raises crucial questions about the limits of free speech, public debate, equal access to justice, and ultimately, our democratic institutions. 

Please join us to watch and discuss this important film, which will be screened on Monday, January 12th, 7 pm, at the Central Library, 251 Dundas Street, London, ON. 

For more information, contact: 

Lorraine McNeil: 519-859-4308 
Marie-France Arismendi: 519-851-0122

Monthly Meeting January 8, 2015: LeadNow and Fair Vote: featured speakers, Lorna Cairns and German Gutierrez

German Gutierrez

Thursday 
January 8, 2015
6:30 pm
London Public Library
Landon Branch
167 Wortley Rd.
London, Ontario


Martha Bishop Room 

DEMOCRACY IN CANADA: 
FAIR ELECTIONS AND ELECTORAL REFORM 

Our focus from January through March will be on election issues. The Jan. 8th meeting will feature presentations from LeadNow and from Fair Vote Canada, followed by Q & A with the audience. Bring your election questions for these expert speakers and expect a lively, informative event. Donations are welcome. 

6:30 Coffee, tea, snacks (bring something to share) and social 

7:00 Business, reports and announcements 

7:15 Speakers: Lorna Cairns, LeadNow and German Gutierrez, Fair Vote Canada 

FRAGRANCE FREE EVENT! Please be respectful of attendees who have serious allergies! All are welcome! Free! Refreshments! Donations accepted gratefully! 

Roberta 519-601-2053 (Questions, bus routes, ride pool). 

Details: 

Lorna Cairns, LeadNow: 

Leadnow.ca is an independent advocacy organization dedicated to achieving progress through democracy. They bring Canadians together to build a stronger democracy that protects our environment, creates economic opportunity, increases equality, and guarantees universal health care. 

1.) Leadnow supporters across Canada had indicated that defeating Harper in 2015 is the highest priority. 

2.) Leadnow sent in one of their full time staffers to facilitate a meeting to introduce the Leadnow voting strategy to Londoners on December 8. The meeting was a great success and the rest will be history! 

German Gutierrez, Fair Vote Canada: 

From the website:
www.fairvote.ca 

“Fair Vote Canada (FVC) is a grassroots multi-partisan citizens’ campaign for voting system reform. We promote the introduction of an element of proportional representation into elections for all levels of government and throughout civil society.” 

As a local representative for Fair Vote Canada, German Gutierrez-Sanin will be speaking on proportional representation. German is a journalist; a member of the Inter-American Press Association; a Professor at Fanshawe College – School of Language and Liberal Studies; a social activist and former NDP candidate in the Riding of London North Centre for the 2011 Federal Election. He currently sits as a member of the Central Council of the London and Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership (LMLIP) of which he has been a member since its creation in 2010.

----------------------------------------

Minutes of our last monthly business meeting:
http://londoncouncilofcanadians.ca/LondonCoCMeetingMinutes.pdf
(Our last monthly meeting on Nov. 6 had no business component. Our AGM was held on Nov. 28.)

OCTOBER 2014 NEWSLETTER

The Council of Canadians is the VOICE of progressive Canadians in 52 cities all over Canada. It is grassroots and bottom-up in its organization, with a small paid staff of researchers in Ottawa who provide the data we need to campaign on issues. 95% of all operating money comes from individual donations. The average individual donation is $50. We are non-profit but are not a charity because we educate and lobby for social and environmental justice. Each chapter determines which issues are important to its local supporters and is as active in campaigns as time and energy allow. Our London Chapter has eight committees: 

The Solidarity Film Coalition manages the Cinema Politica film series, which shows documentary films at the Central Library on the second Monday of each month. The motto of Cinema Politica is “Screening Truth to Power”.

The Trade Justice Committee campaigns against corporate-driven international trade agreements that would take away Canadian democracy and basic rights of self- determination. It has been active in educating London City Council about the perils of the Investor-State clause of CETA, and has been instrumental in getting London City Council to vote unanimously to have the option to vote for an ‘opt-out’ of CETA. 

The Health Care Committee works with the London Health Coalition to keep health care public and is currently engaged in planning a campaign and rally for Nov. 21 in Queens Park, to resist the austerity budget and the adoption of two-tier health care in Ontario. 

The Peace and Human Rights Committee has been active in bringing back John Greyson and Tarek Loubani from an Egyptian prison, supports the boat from Gaza, and opposes war as a solution to problems, social, religious, political or otherwise. 

The Energy and Climate Committee opposes expansion of the Alberta Tar Sands and the movement of bitumen by pipeline and rail. Because we have probably gone past the threshold where our climate can right itself, our position is that any further use of fossil fuels is suicidal for humans and life on this planet. It is also our position that pipelines and rail transport of dangerous substances threaten cities, First Nations, and wildlife, and poison watersheds and rivers they pass through. We actively oppose the reversal of flow of Enbridge’s 38- year-old Line 9 pipeline, just north of London, which crosses the Thames River north of Fanshawe Lake.

The Water Committee will be approaching our new City Council next spring to ask that London become a Blue Community. This means enforcing the bottled water ban in municipal venues and committing to keeping London Hydro public. We have been supporting OPAL (Oxford People Against the Landfill) by protesting with them in Ingersoll, Woodstock, Beachville, and other nearby towns most Fridays at 3:00 pm. In 2015 we will be working with First Nations to organize a water walk along the Thames River from Tavistock to Lake St. Clair.

The Democracy Committee works with Leadnow to fight for fair elections and proportional representation, so that our election process is a more just and accurate reflection of the wishes of all Canadians.

The Food Security Committee is working with City Council to make London a pollinator sanctuary for bees and butterflies. It opposes GM foods, and supports urban agriculture and the distribution and marketing of local food.

 

We strongly urge citizens to go beyond emotional or intellectual sympathy with the campaigns of the Council of Canadians and to contact us and get involved. We will put you in touch with whichever committee chair is working on your favourite issue. Help make Canada THE CANADA WE WANT. 

A People's Ceremony to Honour the 50+ Municipalities, School Boards and Associations Requested to Be Excluded from the CETA

No to CETA! No to Investor State! 

A Big Yes to Fair Trade!

London marked the CETA completion with their own ceremony. The Council of Canadians London Chapter hosted a rally outside city hall on Thursday, September 25th at 4:30 pm to share the historic resistance of the grassroots to the CETA. With about 50 people overall, the chapter enacted a ceremony to honour municipal councils who for the first time rejected a trade pact.

London Chapter representatives, Jennifer Chesnut and Aldous Smith, gave opening remarks about this municipal trade deal and Investor State. London Chapter justice folk singer, Margo Does debuted "The CETA Song". The chapter chair, Roberta Cory, ran work parties to create the many signs, including a sign for every municipal entity that requested an opt out. Chapter members Julie Picken-Cooper and Jessie Chesnut along with other supporters led the ceremony to recognize the municipalities requesting to be excluded from the CETA.

The National Council of Canadian's CETA google map was used to collect the data. 

Excerpts:

"We come together today on the eve before the official announcement of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement to bear witness. We stand outside city hall in recognition of the municipal movement critiquing CETA that included more than eighty resolutions passed by municipalities, school boards and associations. We gather today to thank the many great city councillors in Thunder Bay, Hamilton, North Vancouver, Essex County, Toronto, and so many others who stood up to this deal to protect local choices, local jobs, and the well-being of families. Of those many, over fifty requested to be excluded from the CETA. None of these requests have been publicly acknowledged and debated. We will acknowledge them together today."

"We stand in solidarity with the Ottawa people’s response tomorrow under the tagline “The text might be finished but the fight is just beginning”. Organized by the Canadian Maritime and Supply Chain Coalition with support from the Trade Justice Network, the Quebec Network on Continental Integration (RQIC), and Campact Germany, we stand in solidarity with you."

The event was reported by local indie media here:

https://www.facebook.com/theindignants

https://www.facebook.com/events/1470686059864734/

Picture Credits: 
1. In blog body photo, Mike Roy of The Indignants; 
2,3,4. Kevin Jones



-- Jennifer Chesnut
          Trade Justice Chair, London CoC

Announcement of the rally:

http://londoncouncilofcanadians.blogspot.ca/2014/09/london-rally-on-eve-of-ceta-ceremony.html

London RALLY on the Eve of the CETA Ceremony!

We Stand on Guard for Canadian Cities!

No to CETA!
No to Investor-State!
And a Big Yes to Fair Trade!

The world famous CETApus of London, Ontario, 2011.

On Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, at 4:30 pm, outside London City Hall, you are invited to take a stand for Canadian cities. Together we will mark the historic resistance to the CETA trade pact by city councils from Victoria to Thunder Bay to Toronto. These municipal governments, along with dozens of others, including London, represent the first ever cross-country resistance to a corporate trade pact. The CETA gives corporations the right to directly sue governments if new laws or regulations impact their profits. It also removes the right of municipalities to govern local assets publicly, in favour of privatization and foreign corporate management.

Together we will acknowledge London city council, which passed two resolutions to be excluded from the CETA, for which it has received no reply from either the federal or provincial governments. This gathering will also bear witness to the official announcement, on Friday, Sept. 26th in Ottawa, that negotiations for the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement are complete. In reality, while the agreement is nearing completion, the CETA still needs to be ratified, a process which could take up to two years.

Following the announcement, the CETA cannot be changed. But it can be rejected!

Thursday, September 25

4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Outside City Hall (300 Dufferin Avenue, London ON) 

Hosted by Council of Canadians, London Chapter 

More info: www.canadians.org/trade 

Local contacts:

Aldous Smith         tradejusticelondon@gmail.com 
Jennifer Chesnut   jennifer.reanne@gmail.com 

Come together, connect, and thank Canadian city councillors for standing up to protect families and democratic process.

Bring your voices, ears for listening, and determination for democracy. Stand tall together, knowing we are on the right side of history. No to CETA and Investor State! Yes to Fair Trade!

September Monthly Meeting of the London Chapter of the Council of Canadians

Documentary film: "KOCH BROTHERS EXPOSED"

Thursday September 11, 2014 at 6:00 pm - 8:45 pm in  Landon Branch, London Public Library, 167 Wortley Road,  Martha Bishop Room.

The September Monthly Meeting of the London Chapter of the Council of Canadians starts at 6:00 pm; the film starts at 7:30 pm. 

All are welcome! Free! Refreshments! 

Donations accepted gratefully! 

Minutes of our June 16, 2014 Monthly Meeting:
http://londoncouncilofcanadians.ca/LondonCoCMeetingMinutes.pdf

"We've reissued Koch Brothers Exposed in an updated version, Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition, to shine a light on them. We've delved even deeper into where their money is going, who their money is hurting, and how much they are making..."
http://www.bravenewfilms.org/koch2014

CINEMA POLITICA LONDON REVIVED! TODAY!

Cinema Politica London is happy to be back under new management after a two year hiatus! It is now being run by the Solidarity Film Coalition, a committee of the London Chapter of the Council of Canadians. Co-sponsors include L.A.C.A.S.A. (Latin American Canadian Solidarity Association), the London Public Library, and Seeds of Hope. Our kick-off film is, appropriately, "We Are Wisconsin", a rousing cheer leading inspiration to action for grassroots movements! It is guaranteed to knock your socks off! 

TODAY! Monday Sept. 8, 2014 at 7 pm in Stevenson & Hunt Room, London Public Library, 251 Dundas St.

All of our showings are free of charge, but we do welcome donations any time.

http://www.cinemapolitica.org/london