Indigenous perspectives on the 8th International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, Call for an End to Violence

On December 17^th 2010, sex workers and their allies across the globe will mark the 8th International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This day draws attention to acts of violence that continue to be committed against sex workers worldwide, and to the stigma and discrimination perpetuated by prohibitionist laws and views against sex work, which endanger our lives and work.

In Canada, although the recent decriminalization decision from the Ontario Superior Court has given much hope to the sex worker rights movement, police harassment and brutality are ongoing, and discrimination remains unabated. This is particularly true for Indigenous communities and communities of color.

On this day it is also remembered that the criminal legal system along with the police are creations of the colonial state. The criminal legal system in the United States and Canada disproportionately targets Indigenous communities. Sex work is no different. Indigenous sex workers are vastly more likely to be subjected to repeated arrests, police and prison violence including sexual assault, incarceration, longer sentences, to have their children removed and lack of access to culturally relevant services within or outside of prisons. They are also the most likely group of sex workers to be murdered or disappeared. These realities are not only limited to Canada or the United States, but are reflective of Indigenous experiences the world over.

This year, the Native Youth Sexual Health Network and Maggie’s: the Toronto Sex Worker’s Action Project are working together in order to centralize the experiences of Indigenous sex workers, who face disproportionate amounts of violence due to ongoing colonization, legacies of Residential Schools, and systemic racism in addition to the stigma associated with sex and sex work. Jessica Yee, Executive Director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network and a board member at Maggie’s says that, “We recognize that violence and patriarchy have long been used as tools to subjugate, disempower and undermine Indigenous people’s autonomy over our own bodies. The very creation of Canada and the United States was achieved through state sanctioned sexual violence and the imposition of heteropatriarchy. Responses to violence against Indigenous sex workers today must be aware of these histories and, as such, should be led by Indigenous people themselves. Further, such responses must be aware of the recolonizing effect of so-called ‘helping’ Indigenous people and ‘rescuing’ sex workers. Most importantly, non- Indigenous peoples and organizations must respect and learn from the many ways in which Indigenous communities have already been and continue to work to end violence.”

Friends, supporters, allies and everyone interested in ending violence against Indigenous sex workers is invited to an event this Saturday, December 18^th at the Native Canadian Centre in Toronto entitled: “Sharing, Celebrating, Decolonizing: Indigenous Sex Work”. Starting at 6pm, this event will feature performances from Brenda MacIntyre, Red Slam Collective as well as a roundtable discussion with various Indigenous sex worker rights activists, community members and community service organizations about the right to work with safety and dignity and how to end violence. There will also be a traditional feast and giveaway to celebrate the lives of those who continue to survive and thrive in the face of racism and discrimination – including Indigenous sex workers – as well as those fighting for the right of self determination over their bodies and spaces.

The Native Youth Sexual Health Network (NYSHN) is a North-America wide organization working on issues of healthy sexuality, cultural competency, youth empowerment, reproductive justice, and sex positivity by and for Native youth. The reclamation and revitalization of traditional knowledge about people's fundamental human rights over their bodies and spaces, intersected with present-day realities is fundamental to our work. We work within the full spectrum of reproductive and sexual health for Indigenous peoples.

Maggie's (Toronto) is an organization run for and by sex workers. Our mission is to assist sex workers in our efforts to live and work with safety and dignity. We are founded on the belief that in order to improve our circumstances, sex workers must control our own lives and destinies.

Media Contact:

Jessica Yee, Executive Director, Native Youth Sexual Health Network

Canada and United States

Board Member, Maggie’s

(416) 419 6937

jyee@nativeyouthsexualhealth.com

www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com

Jane Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP). Ten Demands For Action On Poverty

Welfare Policies
...
1. Toronto City Council must immediately refuse to implement the Provincial Social Assistance Memo on the Special Diet that has allowed for staff at Ontario Works offices (City of Toronto workers) to deny people access to the vital benefit. Under this provincial directive, the rates of people accessing the Special Diet Allowance will be dramatically reduced. Essentially – this directive is being as a provincial cut to welfare rates.

2. Freeze the Police budget, eliminate Community Action Policing and put the freed up resources into meeting the real needs of communities. Mayor-elect Ford has already promised to hire 100 more officers. Every year, their budget demands go up, and every year, the City gives them what they want. The violent crime rate has been declining for years. In an economic crisis, where more people are without jobs and housing, City money needs to go to housing and social services and not police.

Housing as a Right not an Empty Promise
3. Ensure that enough social, supportive and accessible housing is built to eliminate the waiting list.

71,000 families and individuals are on a 13-year waiting list in Toronto for social housing. Those thousands of people are spending almost all their income on trying to get some form of housing, going hungry, struggling to survive on market rents that are ridiculously unaffordable and living in rotten conditions while they wait.
On top of this, an estimated 10 000 people in this city are homeless. Thousands of homeless people pack into shelters every night because no supportive housing is open. Accessible housing is needed dearly for those with disabilities.

4. Inject money into shelters immediately, including shelters for abused women and children. End all seasonal closing of shelter space. Bring the spaces up to decent, liveable standards.
The solution to homelessness lies in proving housing as a right and not in putting people into shelters. However, this must not become a cover for cynical politicians who cram people into overcrowded shelters or leave them on the street while making empty promises about providing housing. Until the right to housing is won, shelters must provide enough beds and the inhuman conditions that presently exist in them must be changed. Abused women and children presently have to wait for months to get into a shelter. No waiting list for people at risk is acceptable. The practice of closing beds in the Spring that forces people out onto the streets to face police harassment has to be stopped. The right to safety and dignity must be respected with no delay.

5. Repeal all municipal by-laws that are used for 'social cleansing' of neighbourhoods and the persecution of homeless people, such as 'camp in park without a permit'.

Homeless people, especially in the downtown core, face a relentless drive to push them out. Low income housing stock is blocked or destroyed, hostels and drop-ins are closed or prevented from opening, and the police and private security companies commonly harass and terrorize those on the streets to move them out of tourist districts and downtown.

6. Freeze all condo development in neighbourhoods where low income housing stock is threatened with displacement.
An Anti-Condo By-Law would work like this: in any community in the city where the vacancy rate was less than 3% - as it is in all poor communities in Toronto - development of condos would be outlawed. Similar laws have been passed in many cities in Quebec and have helped to stop poor neighbourhoods from being overrun by expensive rental housing. In downtown neighbourhoods like Regent Park, we see condos being built everywhere on top of the destruction of social housing and re-location of poor residents. They cause rents to go up and bars, restaurants, and supermarkets to raise their prices. This is forcing poor people out of their neighbourhoods and into the periphery of the city, where there is less access to community centres and other services. An Anti-Condo By-Law could slow this process down and give us time to organize to stop the destruction of our neighbourhoods.

Community Needs and Access
7.Affordable, Quality Childcare
Subsidized daycare spots are being eliminated across the city. 17,000 Toronto children are currently waiting for childcare subsidies and many non-subsidy parents line up for years to secure a full-fee spot for their children. An infant space costs on average $70 dollars a day without subsidy and this fee will only continue to rise given the instability of the current daycare system. Instead of responding to a crisis in quality, affordable and accessible childcare by investing in the creation of spaces to meet the needs of low income families, daycares are being closed and parents are being told to fend for themselves and to find alternatives. There are no alternatives. Low income families and communities need equitable access to public subsidized spaces that meet their children's needs.

8.Immigrant Rights Demand

9. No Fare is Fair: Towards a Free and Accessible TTC. Last year the Toronto City Council voted to raise transit fares to $3.00. For poor and working people in this city transit costs were already too high and often unaffordable even before the fare hike. The TTC deficit should not be loaded on the backs of poor and working people in this city who rely on transit as a necessity. Public transit in this city should be federally funded and affordable and accessible to all! Transit systems in other cities get more government funding to cover their costs. Free public transit will help create the healthier, cleaner and better connected neighbourhoods that we all want. It will strengthen public ownership and create more, decent paying, unionized jobs. It will open up freedom of movement in this city for thousands of people who, currently, simply cannot afford the fares or are in isolated and poorly serviced neighborhoods.

SIGN ON TO TEN DEMANDS FOR MUNICIPAL ACTION ON POVERTY

The City of Toronto government is currently contemplating its budget options, with powerful forces weighing in on where the money should best be spent. The poor and working people of this City must silence the usual chorus of business and police interests, starting now and ending only when we get what has long been so badly needed to make our lives decent.Therefore, we have begun to band together around clear and simple demands for action on poverty in Toronto. These demands cover basic issues poor people face in Toronto and focus on the measures that Ford and the municipal government he heads have the power and ability to act upon.

ACTION ALERT: Contact your MP to urge them to reject Bill C-42 (Secure Flight)

(Ottawa, Canada – December 3, 2010) The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) is today urging supporters and all Canadians of conscience to call on their Member of Parliament to oppose the passage of Bill C-42: An Act to Amend the Aeronautics Act. Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities are on the verge of possibly recommending passage of a new law that will, potentially, have huge impacts on Canada’s sovereignty and our privacy and Charter rights.

Bill C-42 would amend the Aeronautics Act thereby legally permitting Canadian airlines to provide passenger information to foreign states – an action which is currently prohibited under Canadian privacy laws – in order to satisfy the U.S. Secure Flight program. Secure Flight has been roundly criticized by international civil society groups because it requires that a hodgepodge of Canadians’ personal information be transmitted to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) even if the flight is only passing through U.S. airspace.

Canada has already taken many steps to harmonize its airline security with U.S. programs but to no avail as ever more severe demands are made. The purported purpose of the Passenger Protect Program (PPP), a made-in-Canada "No-Fly" list, was to prevent the imposition of the U.S. list on Canada. Yet again the benchmark has been moved.

Due our geographic location, Canadians have the most to lose from the imposition of Secure Flight rules on Canadian travel. It's only right that Canada takes a stand now, before it’s too late.

ACTION REQUESTED

Write or email your Member of Parliament today to urge them to vote against C-42 as an unnecessary violation of Canadian sovereignty, the rule of law, privacy and due process, and ask that, in the least, steps be taken to mitigate its impact on Canadian citizens.

You can find out who your member of Parliament is with your postal code here:

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx

REMINDER: Please cc CAIR-CAN on all correspondence at info(AT)caircan(DOT)ca

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Honourable __________,

I'm writing to ask you to vote against Bill C-42: An Act to Amend the Aeronautics Act, as it is currently written. C-42 would permit Canadian airlines overflying a foreign states’ airspace to share passenger information with that foreign state – in this case the United States’ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - an action which is currently prohibited under Canadian privacy laws.

This bill raises serious concerns around Canada’s sovereignty and the privacy and civil liberties of Canadian citizens. If enacted Bill C-42 would, in effect, cede de facto right to the United States to decide, based on its own “No Fly” lists, who can travel to or from Canada to many destinations - even when those travellers are not heading to a U.S. destination.

Many Canadian Muslims share concerns regarding how the introduction of new security regimes seems to have had a disproportionate impact on members of the Muslim community and the possibility that this new bill could potentially introduce the racial or religious profiling of passengers. One obvious example would be the case Maher Arar.

I urge you to vote against Bill C-42 or, in the least, Parliament should take the following actions to minimize the impact of Secure Flight on Canadians:

(i) To limit the amount of personal information disclosed to US authorities;

(ii) To work with the Canada’s other international partners to negotiate accessible and robust mechanisms of redress with

American authorities for Canadians who find themselves prevented from flying as a result of Secure Flight;

(iii) To implement a national education campaign to inform Canadians about the Secure Flight Program and Canada’s own

Passenger Protect Program; and

(iv) To question the length of the retention periods of information and implement agreements to stipulate that clearly

defined protections be set on any information that may be shared.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

NOTE: Your full name and address are required if you wish an official response.

The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations is a federally incorporated, non-profit organization working to empower Canadian Muslims in the fields of the media, human rights, and public advocacy. Its board members include Kashif Ahmed JD, Dr. Jamal Badawi, Selma Djukic, Khalid Elgazzar LL.B., Dr. Wael Haddara, Khadija Haffajee, Aftab Sabir and Shahina Siddiqui

Donate today to ensure our rights are protected and Canadian Muslims are accurately portrayed in the media. Our Monthly Givers Club makes it easy to contribute to CAIR-CAN's projects and initiatives. One time donations are also always welcome.

For more information on how you can get involved and make a difference visit:

http://www.caircan.ca/support.pp_php

To SUBSCRIBE, click here: http://caircan.biglist.com/sub/caircan-infolist/

Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations
P.O. Box 13219, Ottawa ON, K2K 1X4
T: 1-866-524-0004
F: 1-613-254-9810
www.caircan.ca

Who is Indian Affairs helping in England?

UOI OFFICES (December 3, 2010) – Anishinabek Nation Deputy Grand Council Chief Glen Hare wonders why the federal bureaucracy responsible for improving the lives of First Nations people in Canada is spending exorbitant amounts on overseas travel.

Published reports include thousands of dollars in overseas trips by Indian Affairs bureaucrats to places like Russia, Belgium and Great Britain in a list of $125 million worth of extravagant expenses by federal civil servants.

“They’re supposed to be representing our interests – we’re not aware of any First Nations in England,” said Hare. “We have plenty of funding problems in our own back yard – we don’t need INAC dollars spent in Europe.”

The Deputy Grand Council Chief called the expenses “jaw-dropping” at a time when First Nations education funding has been capped at two per cent for the past 13 years.

“Just keeping up with inflation and our growing population would require annual funding increases of 6.5 per cent,” said Hare. “This is discrimination against our young people,” he said, noting that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – which Canada recently endorsed – says Indigenous peoples have the right to all levels and forms of education without discrimination.

He called on the federal government to demonstrate more responsibility and transparency in spending taxpayers’ dollars.

The Anishinabek Nation established the Union of Ontario Indians as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 40 member communities across Ontario, representing approximately 55,000 people. The Union of Ontario Indians is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.

Immigration Enforcement Pushed Out of Anti-Violence Against Women Spaces across the GTA

Check out the video and share with friends, colleagues, on facebook, email http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT0I6YOofI8

The Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre (GTEC) of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), GTA Region, has issued a directive to all its officers, stating:

1. When conducting a road investigation, officers will not enter shelters or other spaces designated as resources for women fleeing/experiencing violence.
2. Officers are not to wait outside or approach the above-noted spaces and will maintain a reasonable distance.
3. Officers are not to approach the above-noted spaces to make any inquiries into the identity of women who may be the subject of an immigration investigation. This includes inquiries made to the staff, volunteers and other residents.

After 2 years of grassroots organizing with migrant women and trans activists, residents and users of anti-violence against women agencies and anti-violence against women service providers the Shelter|Sanctuary|Status campaign has successfully pushed immigration officers out of spaces for women surviving violence and abuse. To see video of the April 2010 SSS delegation to GTEC, click here. To see the chronology of the campaign, click here.

According to the directive above, Immigration Enforcement cannot enter or approach women’s shelters, drop-ins, child protection services, counseling services, community health and legal clinics, neighborhood centres with violence against women programs, rape crisis centers, second stage housing and transitional support programs, and other agencies that provide violence against women supports and programs.

Over the years, we have seen women and transpeople denied refugee status and deported to death. We have seen migrant women forced to work in exploitative and vulnerable conditions, denied workplace protections. For too long undocumented women, particularly survivors of violence, have been unable to access support in the GTA for fear of being arrested, detained and deported. Far too many times, undocumented women have been targeted and arrested in places they gathered for support and strength.

This policy is part of the process of creating safety, justice and dignity for undocumented communities, particularly women, transpeople and children surviving and fighting back against abuse and violence. This is part of the campaign to make all social services in the GTA accessible to undocumented women, particularly survivors of violence.

To ensure that Immigration Enforcement complies with their directive, please paste the directive below prominently at the entrances to your agency. If Immigration Enforcement appears, remind them of their obligation to respect this directive and ask them to leave. We are encouraging all social services in the city to implement a full 'Access Without Fear' policy. Download the draft policy of the directive here.

No One Is Illegal-Toronto will be tracking the effectiveness of this directive. Please email nooneisillegal@riseup.net if CBSA shows up at your service to report how the interaction went.

While this directive has improved access to services for undocumented women, we wish to reiterate that our work and organizing has never been about gaining concessions from Immigration Enforcement. Our struggle is about justice and dignity for migrants, irrespective of immigration status - and that struggle continues. We will continue to fight for a stay on all deportations, particularly for women, children and trans-people who are survivors of violence and a full and inclusive regularization program.

On March 8th, 2010, members of the Shelter|Sanctuary|Status campaign declared “It is our responsibility to ensure that women, transpeople and children in our communities do not live in daily fear of detention and deportation, especially when seeking support”. We stand by our declaration and remind ourselves and our communities that though policies may come and go, real protection and strength comes from within us.

We will continue to organize for a city that is safe and just for all its residents, irrespective of immigration status. As we We commit again today to continue organizing until racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist and exclusionary immigration enforcement cannot function in our city.

JOIN US!

www.nooneisillegal.org
http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/sss

FORWARD THIS VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT0I6YOofI8

Bell Canada failing First Nation customers

UOI OFFICES (Nov. 24, 2010) – Hundreds of First Nations telephone customers across Ontario are complaining about service providers failing to follow government direction to refund the provincial sales tax portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax.

“They don’t have any problem finding the cheques we send them to deposit in their big corporate bank account,” said Anishinabek Deputy Grand Chief Glen Hare. “But they seem to misplace our citizens’ requests for their lawful refund of the 8 per cent PST that is still on their telephone bills.”

Hare said he had heard horror stories from homeowners in the 40 Anishinabek Nation communities across Ontario who have spent hours on the phone trying to have Bell Canada, one of Canada’s largest corporations, delete the PST from monthly phone, internet and satellite bills.

After the Ontario government directed businesses in the province to comply with directives to honour First Nations treaty rights to exemption from the 8 per cent PST portion of the new 13 per cent HST, Bell Canada asked First Nations customers to send copies of their certificates of Indian Status and a refund form to FAX number 1-877-338-3013 and using the request form http://support.bell.ca/Documents/General/Other/taxexempt%28en%29.pdf?ver=7.0

But complaints are flooding in about lack of response to the requests and poor customer service from Bell Canada. First Nations citizens are being told the forms can’t be located and they will have to re-submit the information.

“Maybe if they were paying rent for all those poles on our territories the phone companies would pay more attention to First Nation customer service,” said Deputy Grand Chief Hare. “We’re looking for Bell Canada to issue a public apology to our citizens and start obeying the law.”

All telecommunications for First Nations citizens in Ontario were to be PST exempt starting September 1, 2010. This includes phone, cell phone, internet, cable and satellite services.

The Anishinabek Nation established the Union of Ontario Indians as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 40 member communities across Ontario, representing approximately 55,000 people. The Union of Ontario Indians is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.

Forcible foster care ‘genocide’: UN Declaration

UOI OFFICES (November 24, 2010) – Anishinabek have the right to keep their children in their own communities, including those who require foster care.

“Other governments must put a stop to the harm that has been caused to thousands of our kids – first in residential schools, then in foster homes,” said Deputy grand Chief Glen Hare. “They have to give us the resources our communities need to look after our own children; their welfare is more important than providing jobs for outside agencies.”

“And now that Canada has finally endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” he added, “it needs to understand that forcibly removing children from one group of peoples to another is considered genocide by the standards of international law.”

Hare noted that a Human Rights complaint has been filed against Canada for its funding of First Nations child welfare agencies across the country at an average of 22 per cent less than the budgets of provincial agencies like Children’s Aid Societies.

The Anishinabek Nation established the Union of Ontario Indians as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 40 member communities across Ontario, representing approximately 55,000 people. The Union of Ontario Indians is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.

Update on the Growing Grassroots Opposition to Tory Anti-Migration Bill C-49

• Statements have been issued by Health for All (http://health4all.ca/), Health Providers Against Poverty (http://www.healthprovidersagainstpoverty.ca), over 200 Jewish community members (http://jewishopenletteragainstc49.blogspot.com) and numerous others. The Canadian Council for Refugees has compiled a partial list of organizations against the Bill at http://ccrweb.ca/en/organizations-calling-defeat-bill-c-49.

• No One Is Illegal - Toronto held a mass-flyering event on Saturday, Nov 20, 2010 - Photos: http://bit.ly/aUGed5, Radio podcast interview with Abeer Majeed: http://bit.ly/bAfM6o

• Renowned author, academic and activist Nandita Sharma was recently interviewed by No One Is Illegal-Toronto Radio on the issue: http://bit.ly/9eBh5d (You can download NOII-TO weekly radio podcasts from http://bit.ly/9geqeK)

• No One Is Illegal-Ottawa did a recent banner drop against Bill C-49: http://bit.ly/auQZ7e

In an extremely suspicious move, the Harper govt. re-introduced Bill C-56, another immigration bill, late Friday afternoon attempting to bury the news story. Though the full details of Bill C-56 are not yet known, the announcement that immigration enforcement will have enhanced powers to turn down work visas for migrants on arbitrary grounds is a dangerous expansion of the closed-border strategy and needs to be closely monitored. You can read the press release here: http://bit.ly/9DGb1N

For more background info, and to fight back against Bill C-49, visit http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/495

For an article on how the Tories are pushing through key immigration changes, read http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/11/understanding-tory-immigration-strategy

UN finds Canada and Ontario violate human rights

An agency of the United Nations has ruled a ban on farm unions violates the human rights of Ontario’s 100,000 migrant and domestic farm workers

GENEVA – November 18, 2010 – The UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) has ruled that Canada and Ontario, through Ontario’s ban on farm unions, violate the human rights of the more than 100,000 migrant and domestic agriculture workers in that province. It follows a complaint filed in March 2009 by UFCW Canada — the country’s largest private-sector union and a leading advocate for farm workers’ rights for over two decades. The ILO is the United Nations agency responsible for formulating international labour standards including basic labour rights.

“The ILO has sent a clear message to the Canadian and Ontario governments that Ontario must end its blatant abuse of the rights of the workers who grow and harvest our food,” says Wayne Hanley, the national president of UFCW Canada. “These are farm workers, not farm animals, and people have human rights including the right to collective bargaining.”

The ILO ruling was handed down in Geneva (http://www.ufcw.ca/ilo). It found that Ontario’s Agricultural Employees Act, 2002 (AEPA) which denies all Ontario agriculture workers the right to join a union and engage in collective bargaining is a violation of human rights under two United Nation’s conventions: Convention No. 87 – Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, and Convention No. 98 – Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining.

Canada is a signatory to Convention 87 and supported Convention 98, “so you would expect a federal government that bid to get on the UN Security Council would have the integrity to follow up on the UN conventions,” said the UFCW Canada president. “The feds can say it’s a provincial matter but the reality is that both the Harper and McGuinty governments are partners with the farm lobby in plowing under the human rights of people doing some of the hardest and most dangerous work there is.”

The ILO ruling reinforces a November 17, 2008 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that found the AEPA violated Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms by denying Ontario farm workers their freedom of association. The Ontario government appealed that decision to the Supreme Court of Canada which has twice before upheld the Charter guarantee of collective bargaining rights. The Supreme Court heard the appeal in December 2009 and its final and definitive ruling is pending.

“While Ontario continues to stall by using the courts, the lives of the workers continue to be at risk,” says Hanley. “Without labour rights, Ontario farm workers remain powerless when faced with abusive employers and dangerous working conditions. The Ontario courts have said it. The Supreme Court has said it, and now the United Nations has said it. Labour rights are human rights, and that must include Ontario farm workers.”

UFCW Canada, in association with the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), operates ten agriculture worker support centres across Canada. The AWA is Canada’s largest national association and support network for both domestic as well as migrant agriculture workers.

CONTACT:
Stan Raper, National Co-ordinator
Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA)
416.675.1104 x2232 office
416.523.0937 cell
sraper@ufcw.ca

www.ufcw.ca
www.awa-ata.ca

To Sisters In Spirit Supporters

It’s not over yet.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada’s (NWAC) Sisters In Spirit initiative 2005-2010 was denied the renewal of its special project status and are now parceled under one portfolio under Status of Women Canada. This change has negatively affected the activities that NWAC can undertake and will hamper our ability to maintain focus on resolving the epidemic of violence that threatens Aboriginal women. A strategic, long-term approach is needed to sustain our high quality of work and effectiveness on this issue.

Sisters In Spirit began out of a dire concern shared by many groups, including the Aboriginal community, social service agencies, churches and international groups such as Amnesty International. These organizations were alarmed by the large number of cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls; they supported NWAC and our application for funding for the Sisters In Spirit initiative to address this issue.

Five years forward, Sisters In Spirit is no longer just a project - it has become something much larger. International, National, local and grass roots groups and individuals now have a connection to the name Sisters In Spirit as a global movement and brand. Sisters In Spirit is recognized in Europe, Latin America, Australia and North America as a symbol of the commitment of not only the community to ensuring the safety of Aboriginal women but also as a way to honour the missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls, their families and their communities.

The Sisters In Spirit logo “Grandmother Moon” is also recognized in conjunction with the initiative and as a connection to the nearly 600 known missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. The families of Sisters In Spirit trust the name and logo and feel a strong affiliation with them as a beacon of hope for change.

Sisters In Spirit has outgrown project status. It demonstrates NWAC’s success in conducting research, policy development and community engagement on this difficult issue. NWAC is recognized by both governmental and non-governmental organizations as a leader in this activity and an expert voice on this issue – a voice that brings forward the concerns of families who have lost a loved one as well as all those in the Aboriginal and wider communities who share a commitment to reducing violence and improving the circumstances facing Aboriginal women.

NWAC is concerned that the difficulties surrounding ongoing funding are not only curbing the success of the movement but also causing unnecessary pain to the families directly affected by this issue. NWAC hopes that the federal government will recognize this unique situation and work with the organization to make the right decision. NWAC looks forward to further collaboration with the government on new, ongoing and additional projects that will enable us to continue the work we began almost six years ago.

How you can help:

• Sending a letter to the federal government stating your support of NWAC’s Sisters In Spirit and urging them to make ongoing funding to this activity a priority
• Posting support of NWAC’s Sisters In Spirit on your websites or other locations you feel would be beneficial
• Communicating with your affiliates and members to also pledge their support to NWAC’s Sisters In Spirit.

Our doors are always open to family members and communities. Our doors are always open to develop new partnerships and relationships. We would also like to put your letters and supporting documents on our website located at www.nwac.ca

Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions, comments, or ideas.

Sisters In Spirit,
The Native Women’s Association of Canada
1-800-461-4043
sistersinspirit@nwac.ca

Support the Report - Help make a breakthrough on poverty in Canada

An all party committee of parliament has just put forward a report that could change the face of poverty in Canada.

The report calls for the federal government to immediately commit to a federal action plan to reduce poverty in Canada. Make Poverty History has contributed and pushed for this report, now we must make its recommendations a reality.

Send a message now to Diane Finley, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development urging her to respond positively to the recommendations in the report. Ask her to commit to developing a poverty reduction plan. Click on http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/act/support-the-report-help-make-a-break-through-on-poverty-in-canada

The report, Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada (http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4770921&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=3), is the result of an extensive three-year study on the federal role in addressing poverty by the Parliamentary Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development (HUMA). They support the key goals of the Dignity for All campaign by recommending that the federal government immediately commit to a federal action plan to reduce poverty in Canada. Key components of a poverty reduction plan the committee recommends the federal government take action on include:

• Raising the Canada Child Tax Benefit and supplement to $5000 within 5 years;
• A long-term national housing and homelessness strategy;
• Measures to help the most vulnerable – a refundable Disability Tax Credit, easing EI qualifications, increasing adult literacy, increasing and indexing GIS for seniors, implementing an early learning and child care strategy; and
• Major help for Aboriginal People for housing, education and social services, including elimination of the two per cent cap on federal funding.
• Recently, the government has ignored recommendations from similar reports on Poverty from the Senate. Don’t let this happen again.

We can’t let this excellent parliamentary report just be ignored and sit on a shelf to gather dust. It was the result of extensive public hearings in a number of communities across Canada – something that action by Make Poverty History supporters helped to make happen. Members of Parliament listened to people living in poverty and have responded to what they heard with very positive and thoughtful recommendations, which if adopted would help to make poverty history in Canada.

Send a message now to the government that we need immediate action to end poverty in Canada. And send a copy of your message to your Member of Parliament asking her/him to support the recommendations in the HUMA Report.

And if you haven’t done so yet, visit www.dignityforall.ca and sign up your support to the Make Poverty History sponsored movement to end poverty in Canada.

Thank you,

Dennis Howlett
Make Poverty History

Bill C-389

In the next few weeks, the House of Commons will be voting on a proposed law to make it illegal to discriminate against transsexual or transgendered people and to make violence against transexual and transgendered people a hate crime.

Email your MP to support Bill C-389 at http://petition.web.net/psac/node/47?utm_source=PSAC+Master+List&utm_campaign=ab27d07245-Trans_rights_make_history_eng11_16_2010&utm_medium=email

Burnaby MP Bill Siksay has tried to get C-389, a private members bill, made law twice before. But this time, has made it to third reading, a critical stage in the process of becoming law.

But C-389 needs your support. Two conservative members of parliament voted against the bill in committee and you can bet transphobic organizations and lobbyists are gearing up to defeat this bill.

Please tell your MP that you support Bill C-389 and you want to see trans people enjoy protection from discrimination and you want to see violence against trans people treated as hate crimes.

Help make history.

CANADIANS CONDEMN RACIAL STEREOTYPING BY MACLEAN’S AND THE TORONTO STAR

TORONTO/VANCOUVER, Nov. 15, 2010 – Canadians today strongly condemned editorial decisions at Maclean’s news magazine and the Toronto Star that use racial stereotyping to promote their publications, calling for public apologies and equal editorial space to counter harm done.

“How can a headline, ‘Too Asian’?, not be racist? This is irresponsible journalism that relies on spreading racial stereotypes to sell magazines and newspapers,” says Avvy Go , clinic director of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (MTSALC).

“It pushes us back 30 years to the ‘W5 incident,’ when CTV portrayed Asian Canadians as ‘foreigners,’ taking away places at universities from white Canadians, and now we are being blamed for bringing up the academic standard to their disadvantage,” adds Go. “If this is not racism, then I don’t know what is.”

“Thankfully, readers and viewers today are much more educated and recognize racial stereotyping when it occurs,” says Harbhajan Gill, president of the Komagata Maru Heritage Foundation in Vancouver . ”Not only do they recognize this as an insidious form of racism, they also are quick and determined in their condemnation of it.”

The 20^th anniversary edition of national news magazine Maclean’s university rankings, which hit newsstands Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010, carried an article that was headlined, ‘Too Asian’? This article creates and promotes a false perception that ethnic Asian students are limiting opportunities for non-Asians at certain Canadian universities and offers up a litany of stereotypes as proof.

The Toronto Star’s main headline story on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, made advance reference to the Maclean’s article, seemingly without any editorial consideration that they were also spreading the racist views contained within the Maclean’s article.

“Rather than dealing with the true issues of meritocracy, the role of universities in screening for the rewards of professional careers, and whether higher education means more than just a higher income later in life, Maclean’s obscures any insights it might make with its racist profiling of ‘Asians’ and ‘whites,’” says Henry Yu, history professor at the University of British Columbia.

“The title ‘Too Asian’? draws upon over a century of racist politics using the term ‘Asian’ to flatten everyone who looks ‘Oriental’ in the eyes of bigots into a single category, which is somehow threatening to ‘white’ Canadians.”

Indeed, commentary on Maclean’s own website by its readers is more articulate and intelligent than the writers and editors themselves, and in many instances dismisses the article as being pointless and inflammatory.

“Maclean’s and the Toronto Star need to issue public apologies for their treatment of Canadians,” says MTSALC’s Go. “These apologies should appear in their print and online editions as well as in other national and local media.”

Community groups across Canada will also seek public consultations with both Maclean’s and the Toronto Star, as well as pursue remedies in the form of changes to policy at both media groups that result in preventing further racial stereotyping and racial profiling.

“‘Too Asian’? is a question asked-and-answered by Maclean’s in a story that seems to be deliberately contrived to create controversy,” says Neethan Shan, executive director of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA) in Toronto . “However, the question itself is irrelevant, irrational and even discriminatory in today’s Canadian society, which strives to value diversity and promote multiculturalism.”

“Making people into foreigners starts with the media,” comments Anthony B. Chan, professor of communications at University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa .

“In 1979, CTV's W5 program portrayed Canadians of Chinese heritage as foreigners and the Canadian government said nothing about it,” Chan recalls. “In 2010, Maclean’s and the Toronto Star portray Canadians of Chinese ancestry as outsiders, as people who don't fit into the European culture, as non-drinkers, as foreigners, as aliens.”

The so-called “W5 incident” in September 1979 gave rise to the Chinese Canadian National Council, which formed the following year. CTV wrongfully represented Chinese Canadians in an investigative story, titled “Campus Giveaway,” that claimed Asian students were eroding opportunities at getting a secondary education for “Canadian” students. Many of the students portrayed in the W5 program were naturalized citizens or born in Canada .

“One of the first lessons I learned when I was working was how important it is to change the stereotypical thinking that newcomers have about who Canadians are,” says Winnie Cheung, former director of international student services at UBC. “After chipping away at these myths for the last two decades, there is now a better understanding, at least in a city like Vancouver, that someone who looks ‘foreign’ may be a fifth-generation Canadian.”

Anishinabek: UN Declaration too little, almost too late

UOI OFFICES (November 17, 2010) – Canada’s endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Rights is too little and almost too late, says Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee.

“We can’t understand why it took Canada three years to offer such a lukewarm endorsement,” said Madahbee. “They could have been one of the first countries in the world to sign on and call the declaration ‘aspirational’ and ‘non-binding’, instead of waiting until they are the second-last nation in the world to do so and say the same thing.

“In supporting the UN declaration, Canada took a step forward in its relationship with First Nations,” said the Grand Council Chief, “but when it added conditions to the main components of the declaration, Canada took two steps backwards.”

“This is a country that has developed a global reputation as a champion of human rights, but its reluctance on this issue gives us an international black eye.’

Madahbee said the Harper government could still redeem itself by convening a summit on the UN Declaration and work in partnership with First Nations leaders to create a domestic action plan linked to the declaration’s principles, which include land, education and resource rights for the world’s 370 million Indigenous peoples..

Canada’s official statement on Nov. 12 expressed concerns with provisions of the declaration that deal with “lands, territories, and resources’ and “free, prior and informed consent”.

“Section 35 of Canada’s constitution does more than protect our hunting and fishing rights,” said Madahbee. “Like the UN Declaration, it says we have the right to govern our own affairs, but provincial and federal governments have dragged their feet on fully accepting this principle.

“If they persist in this approach – and continue to ignore court decisions saying we must be consulted on issues affecting our territories – the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will be the tool we use to take our grievances to the international community. It is absolutely unjust that First Peoples in Canada continue to be the poorest and least healthy citizens in one of the world’s wealthiest nations.”

The Anishinabek Nation established the Union of Ontario Indians as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 40 member communities across Ontario, representing approximately 55,000 people. The Union of Ontario Indians is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.

Métis National Council Statement on Manitoba Métis Policy

Winnipeg, ON (November 15, 2010) - Métis National Council (MNC) President Clément Chartier delivered the following statement in acknowledge of today’s historic event at the Manitoba Legislature.

“On behalf of the Métis Nation, I’d like to congratulate Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand and the Government of Manitoba for developing the Manitoba Métis Policy Framework. This is truly a historic step forward for the Métis Nation in that it recognizes the significant political and social role that the Métis, under the leadership of Louis Riel, played in Canada. Thanks to the work of Riel’s provisional government, Manitoba joined confederation in 1870, becoming Canada’s fifth province.

The Métis Policy Framework is a bold step forward in that it will enhance Métis participation in key decision making in Manitoba and help to promote a better understanding among everyone about the contributions our Métis ancestors made for the betterment of all Canadians.

My wish now is that all provincial leaders stand up and take notice of this significant development and that they too, will adopt a similar framework.

Today is a great day for the Métis Nation.”

OPPOSE DANGEROUS OFFENDER DESIGNATION FOR NATIVE WOMAN

SUPPORT RENÉE ACOBY

Renée Acoby, an Ojibwe woman from Manitoba, is currently facing the
Dangerous Offender application following a public hearing in
Kitchener. She was originally convicted ten years ago on a 3.5-year
sentence for trafficking cocaine and assault with a weapon. Pregnant
when imprisoned, her one-year-old was removed from her after she
smoked marijuana and took some valium one evening at an innovative
prison called the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge for Aboriginal women
(Maple Creek, Saskatchewan), which was itself under pressure to adhere
to government regulations.

What you know about me, poem by Renee

I don't come from anywhere special
I'm not a "G" from any hood
Just an ordinary person that wrestles
With dilemmas, Bad or Good.

But you're quick to claim
That you know who I am~
In reality you don't give a damn.
You just want the Association
~AFFILIATION~
The media hype and greed
Of being linked to a diabolical seed~
To live vicariously through Renée
The alleged psychopath
To pave history, make or break~
Incur the system's wrath.
Transparent.
Superficial,
The Judicial fight~
A living body, Agonized mentality
Out of reach,
Out of sight.

I don't come from anywhere special
I'm not a "G" from any hood
Just an ordinary person that wrestles with who I am, Bad or Good.

In 2004, Renée was the first woman in Canada to be placed on the
Management Protocol (MP), a punitive system which involves prolonged
periods in solitary confinement. In 2005, the United Nations expressed
serious concerns about Canada's treatment of women prisoners. In 2007,
the National Aboriginal Women's Summit published a paper declaring
that the MP contravenes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
and should be abolished immediately. At times, women are forbidden
access to pencil and paper, books, phone calls and visitation. All of
the time, they have little or no contact with family, no community
supports, little or no training for future employment, no sweat
lodges, no sustained contact with elders, no sweetgrass...

Currently, the four women on the MP are all Aboriginal women. Locked
up for 23 hours per day in cells approximately 8' x 12', with access
to an exercise yard of c.15 x 12 metres for the remaining hour, they
have very restricted physical outlet for pent-up emotion. Having been
on the Management Protocol longer than the other women (including the
ill-fated Ashley Smith), Renée Acoby has accumulated a 21-year
sentence from actions in jail. See "Life on the Installment Plan", The
Walrus, March, 2010.

If designated a dangerous offender, Renée could receive an
indeterminate penitentiary sentence, which means that she is unlikely
ever to get out of prison and will be monitored, in any case, for the
rest of her life. Such designations were designed principally for male
sex offenders. Renée has never murdered or sexually abused anyone; her
child was stolen from her - a familiar story in the case of Canada's
residential schools and prisons.
SUPPORT
To protest Renée Acoby's designation as a Dangerous Offender, you can
write to the Attorney General of Ontaraio:

The Honourable Chris Bentley
Attorney General of Ontario
McMurtry-Scott Building
720 Bay Street, 11th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 2S9

To oppose Renee's placement under the management protocol or to demand
that community organizations and family be allowed to more freely
support Renee, please write:

The Honourable Robert Douglas Nicholson
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8

Jennifer Oades
Deputy Commissioner of Women's Corrections
National Headquarters
340 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0P9

Healthy TransActions

The 519, in partnership with the Trans Youth Toronto program, is pleased to announce the introduction of Healthy TransActions, a new active healthy living program just for trans youth.

Healthy TransActions is a drop-in program for trans-identified youth and youth exploring their gender identity. You will have the opportunity to explore the fun and fascinating world of active healthy living - sport, social recreation, nutrition and education. This is your chance to get active, enjoy a meal, learn about good food, and share ideas and experiences in a space which is welcoming and tailored to your needs. Join us at The 519 and on our many field trips as we explore indoor and outdoor recreation and nutrition spaces in and around the Greater Toronto Area.

Healthy TransActions welcomes youth of all abilities. Instructors will be on-hand to teach you basic skills and to lead fun non-intimidating games.

Healthy TransActions will provide all sport specific equipment. Come dressed comfortably for fun and ready to participate. Private change room facilities are at all programming locations.

This group is open to anyone age 27 and under who is trans or exploring their gender identity and runs every Wednesday and Friday night 5-9. Some field trips will take place on Saturday’s and on those weeks the Friday night program will not run.

Healthy TransActions is a drop-in program, so there is no need to sign-up ahead of time.

If you would like more information about Healthy TransActions, have any suggestions for future programming, or would like to sign up:
Barb Besharat
Healthy TransActions Project Coordinator
416-355-4031
bbesharat@the519.org

For more information on the Trans Youth Toronto drop-in program please contact:
Morgan Page
Trans Community Services Coordinator
416-355-6792
mpage@the519.org

The CPCCA’s Hidden Message: Silencing Criticism of Israeli Apartheid

Dear friends and allies,

As you may know, the Canadian Government is hosting a meeting of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism in Ottawa this week from November 7th-9th. It is widely expected that the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) will use this opportunity to present the findings of their recent inquiry into anti-Semitism in Canada.

To coincide with these meetings, the Toronto-based Palestine Freedom of Expression Campaign has released our own report –

“The CPCCA’s Hidden Message: Silencing Criticism of Israeli Apartheid - A Critical Report on the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism”.

The full report is available online http://tinyurl.com/PFEXreport

As our report shows, this critical analysis of the CPCCA is widely shared. See, for example, two statements below:

KHALED MOUAMMAR - Toronto
Mouammar is the President of the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF). “The Canadian Arab Federation supports any initiative genuinely aimed at ending anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism. It has become clear that the CPCCA’s goals have far more to do with creating a political climate in which criticism of Israeli policies that violate Palestinian rights and international law will be treated as anti-Semitic hate speech. CAF expressed these concerns in a submission to the CPCCA, but we were not even invited to testify.”

ALAN SEARS - Toronto
Sears is a Jewish Canadian who is a professor at Ryerson University and a member of Faculty for Palestine. “I am deeply concerned that the CPCCA is aiming to redefine anti-semitism, shifting the focus from protecting the human rights of Jewish people to suppressing debate about Israeli policies and Palestinian rights. CPCCA’s mandate was biased from the beginning and it invited very little testimony from those who did not agree with their perspective. Faculty for Palestine is deeply disturbed by the CPCCA’s threat to academic freedom and freedom of dissent in this country.”

To ensure our critical analysis is available to parliamentarians, PFEX mailed a copy of the report to all Members of Parliament last week.

In that mailing we included two other important documents (also available on our website and attached here):

* "Palestinian civil society condemns repression in Canada against Palestine solidarity campaigns and
humanitarian efforts" (May 26, 2010) - a statement by the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC)

* "Le message caché du CPCCA: Faire taire la critique de l'apartheid Israélien" - French translation of the
report's Executive Summary

TAKE ACTION TODAY!
i. Read the report and attached statement from the Palestinian BNC, and share widely.
ii. Write to your MP. Remind them to read the report and ask them to support it. Encourage others to contact their MPs.

For more information on Palestine Freedom of Expression campaign:
http://www.freeexpressionpalestine.org/
To contact us, send an e-mail to:
pfex@freeexpressionpalestine.org

INSIDE OUT QUEER VIDEO MENTORSHIP PROJECT

2011 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

A multi-generational video mentorship program

The Project provides a unique opportunity to learn video production from professional artists and editors, using state-of-the-art high-definition cameras and the latest editing technology – all in a group environment that is queer positive, collaborative and supportive. Inside Out and Charles Street Video guide participants through a series of workshops in all aspects of video production – from script development to camera operation to editing and final post-production.

Inside Out will select eight individuals, 4 under the age of 25 and 4 over the age of 55, who identify as LGBTTI2QQ to participate in the project, each making a short video (7 to 10 minutes long) to be screened at the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival in May.

Eligibility Requirements:

· Applicants must be between the ages of 17 and 24 years old or 55 years or older
· Applicants must have little to no experience making films or videos
· Selected participants must be able to commit to 16 hours/week over 4 months starting in January 2011. This commitment includes approximately five weekend-long intensive workshops.

Deadline for proposals: December 6, 2010

For applications and guidelines visit www.insideout.ca
For more information please contact Winnie Luk, Manager of Operations at (416) 977-6847 ext. 24 orwinnie@insideout.ca.

Laura Robinson receives Debwewin Citation for journalism excellence

GARDEN RIVER FN (November 9, 2010) - Laura Robinson, an outspoken advocate for First Nation access to performance-level sports facilities, is the seventh winner of the Debwewin Citation for excellence in reporting on First Nations issues.

Robinson was accredited to report on the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games for the Anishinabek News, published by the Union of Ontario Indians for the 40 member communities of the Anishinabek Nation. She produced articles before, during, and after the Olympics about Anishinabek and First Nations participants in Games-related cultural activities, and a number of stories and columns that questioned the lack of even a single aboriginal member of the Canadian team.

Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee presented the award during a special fall assembly of the Anishinabek Nation.

"Debwewin means 'truth' in our language," said Madahbee," and these awards celebrate First Nation and other journalists in our territory who do outstanding jobs of telling our stories – something mainstream media have not historically done very well. We congratulate Laura Robinson on her contributions."

Robinson's writing credits include the play Niigaanibotawaad: Front Runners. which has been made into a film about ten young First Nation residential school survivors who ran the Pan American Games torch from Minnesota to Winnipeg in 1967, only to be told they were not allowed to bring it into the Pan Am Games stadium.

Toronto Sun columnist Mark Bonokoski and freelance writer/cartoonist Perry McLeod-Shabogesic of Nipissing First Nation were awarded Honourable Mention citations.

McLeod-Shabogesic has been a frequent contributor to the Anishinabek News, including coverage of this year's Anishinaabemowin Teg language conference, and his Baloney and Bannock cartoon panels are among the newspaper's most popular features.

Mark Bonokoski's "Red Road" – a 15-part Sun Media special report – probed the tragic human consequences behind Canada's collective failure to confront socio-economic challenges facing urban First Nations citizens.

The Debwewin Citation top award was first presented in 2002 to Toronto Star journalist Peter Edwards for his reporting on the events that led to the 1996 death of Anthony "Dudley" George in Ipperwash Provincial Park. Winners have included Lynn Johnston, who introduced Anishinabek characters and communities into the storyline of her world-famous comic strip "For Better or For Worse".

Anyone may submit a nomination for the awards, but nominations must be seconded by Anishinabek Nation citizens.

Debwewin is an eastern Ojibwe word which translates into "truth" in English, but which literally means "speaking from the heart". Truth is one of the Seven Grandfather Teachings of the Anishinabek people, who believe that living a good life can only be accomplished through wisdom (nbwaakaswin), love (zaagidwin), respect (mnaadendmowin), bravery (aakdehewin), honesty (gwekwaadziwin), humility (dbaadendiziwin), and truth (debwewin).

According to the Debwewin Citation terms of reference, “For journalists, “truth” should mean more than accuracy; it also implies fairness, balance and context.”

Rationale for the Debwewin Citations:

Due to the deficiencies of mainstream education curricula, most Canadians have been exposed to inaccurate and incomplete portrayals of aboriginal culture, tradition, and contemporary issues. As a result, mainstream media reporting is the primary public education source for information about Native issues, often with disastrous results.

“Aboriginal people are not well-represented by or in the media. Many Canadians know aboriginal people only as noble environmentalists, angry warriors, or pitiful victims. A full picture of their humanity is simply not available in the media. Mainstream media do not reflect aboriginal realities very well, nor do they offer much space to aboriginal peoples to tell their own stories.”

– Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996

The Anishinabek Nation established the Union of Ontario Indians as its secretariat in 1949. The UOI is a political advocate for 40 member First Nations across Ontario. The Union of Ontario Indians is the oldest political organization in Ontario and can trace its roots back to the Confederacy of Three Fires, which existed long before European contact.

Vietnam: Jailed labour activists sentenced - time to ramp up the protests

Bad news from Vietnam. A court has sentenced the three young labour activists who are the focus of a current LabourStart campaign to 7-9 years each.

Amnesty International immediately condemned the sentencing as did unions around the world.

Their families are pleading with overseas unions and others to help, writing that "They are innocent .. They did the right thing and it was not illegal ... From a strong and healthy young man, Hung was physically beaten into a sick and weak man .. We have lost our trust [in Vietnam's regime's justice system] ... We cannot find justice in Vietnam."

Please take a moment to add your name to the protests at http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=798.
And if you're on Facebook, please join the cause at http://www.causes.com/causes/542225

India: One step forward, two steps back

A few weeks ago I asked for your urgent support for a campaign to protest the jailing of hundreds of trade unionists in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. You responded in your thousands. On 22 October, the last of the jailed union leaders was released.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that they were released on bail, continue to face criminal charges, and have sign in at court every day.

The union in India has asked for our help. Working together with the International Metalworkers' Federation, we're launching a new online campaign today focussing on this case and a similar dispute at BYD Electronics involving mass dismissals in an effort to break a union.

Both companies - Foxconn and BYD Electronics - are suppliers to mobile phone giant Nokia.

Please take a moment to send off your message (http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=814) - and spread the word!

If you're on Facebook, please join the cause at http://www.causes.com/causes/543123

EMAIL STEPHEN HARPER ON OMAR KHADR

Following extensive plea negotiations, Omar Khadr pled guilty to all five charges against him on October 25, 2010. The sentencing phase of his military commission trial is now underway in Guantánamo Bay.
The conclusion of proceedings against Omar Khadr means that a number of fundamental issues will remain unresolved including his status as a child soldier, credible allegations of torture and ill-treatment, and his right to compensation and other remedies. Serious concerns also remain about the deeply flawed and unfair nature of the military commission trials.

Diplomatic notes have recently been exchanged between the US and Canadian governments, and these are believed to include a commitment for Omar Khadr to return to Canada after serving some of his sentence in US custody . The contents of the diplomatic notes will be released along with details of the plea agreements at the conclusion of the sentencing hearings.

In the meantime, the Canadian government continues to distance itself from any talk of Omar Khadr coming back to Canada, saying that ?This matter remains between Omar Khadr and the United States government.?

It's time for Canada to finally commit to Omar Khadr's return to Canada.

Urgent! Please sign and send the following email to Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling on him to request the repatriation of Omar Khadr. You can use the comment box to make additional points in your letter.

Instructions:
1. Click on the following link: http://www.amnesty.ca/iwriteforjustice/take_action.php?actionid=367&type=Internal
2. Scroll down and on the right side of the screen, fill out the necessary fields (Name and Email mandatory)
3. Click send

Sisters in Spirit program used by feds to 'squeeze' Native Women's Association of Canada

http://rabble.ca/news/2010/11/sisters-spirit-program-used-feds-squeeze-native-womens-association-canada

By Jorge Barrera
November 4, 2010

The Conservative government opposes the use of the name Sisters in Spirit and any work on a groundbreaking database on murdered and missing Aboriginal women cases, and this is impacting any future funding the Native Women's Association of Canada expects to receive for new projects on the issue.

And the government has been slowly "smothering" the Sisters in Spirit project which is responsible for bringing to national attention the hundreds of "shocking" cases of murdered and missing Aboriginal women, say sources familiar with the file.

During discussions around a new Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) project on murdered and missing women, Status of Women Canada officials said the rules for the funding's source program prevented the use of government money for research and policy work. They have asked that funding proposals not include the name Sisters in Spirit or any plans to use the money for the database.

Nanci-Jean Waugh, spokeswoman for Status of Women, said they were still awaiting the proposal. She said she could not immediately answer questions on whether the department had imposed conditions on new funding.

Politically, it appears the Conservatives have now turned the page on Sisters in Spirit.

"That project was finished. Don't mix apples and oranges," said Conservative MP Shelly Glover, parliamentary secretary for Indian Affairs. "That project was finished, now we're working with them to pursue other projects."

Only last Friday, Status of Women Minister Rona Ambrose singled out Sisters in Spirit during the government's long-awaited $10-million announcement on a national strategy to deal with murdered and missing women cases.

"The journey truly began with an initiative called Sisters in Spirit that was led by the Native Women's Association of Canada," said Ambrose, during the announcement in Vancouver. "The association has undertaken an incredible amount of research... and they have brought to light the shocking extent of these horrendous acts of violence."

The Oct. 29 announcement highlighted the creation of a new police support centre for missing persons, along with promised amendments to the Criminal Code to allow police to wiretap without warrants in emergencies and obtain multiple warrants on a single application. It also promised funding for community-based projects on violence against Aboriginal women and enhancing the cultural sensitivity of victim's services.

It was criticized by some front-line workers, victims' families, academics and opposition politicians over its lack of focus on Aboriginal women and its emphasis on giving more money and power to police.

The NWAC, however, publicly endorsed the strategy and the Conservatives have since invoked the 35-year-old organization's name as a shield against criticism of the announcement.

Yet, over several months, the government had been quietly squeezing Sisters in Spirit, which was created under NWAC's umbrella by the Liberal government in 2005. The Liberals committed $5 million over five years to the project.

The project was the catalyst that thrust the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women into the public consciousness. Its meticulous research into now nearly 600 cases broke new ground in a realm that had been previously ignored. Its national database became the first of its kind in Canada in its scope and detail.

Sisters in Spirit has received recognition from human rights organizations like Amnesty International. Police agencies and provincial governments have approached the project's staff to share information.

Sisters in Spirit was also approached by police in British Colombia and government officials to become involved in the recently announced inquiry into police work around serial killer Robert Pickton's case and a parallel process to culminate in a summit focusing on violence faced by Aboriginal women.

The "slow smothering" of Sisters in Spirit began last December, when former status of women minister Helena Guergis, after "fighting tooth and nail," failed to convince the rest of the Stephen Harper cabinet to renew funding for the project, putting the future of Sisters in Spirit in limbo.

The government committed $10 million over two years in its 2010 federal budget "to address the disturbingly high number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women."

The money, however, would not go to Sisters in Spirit. With its funding running out at the end of March, the Status of Women department stepped in to provide $500,000 to keep the project's work going.

Sisters in Spirit then released a report that confirmed 582 cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women up to March 31 and a second project was put into the works called "Sisters in Spirit, evidence to action."

Department officials eventually said new money had been found but it would come from an existing program that restricted funds from being used for research and policy work, sources say.

New money would be contingent on taking the name Sisters in Spirit out of the proposal. They also said that none of the money could be spent on the database.

Losing the name would be a serious blow to NWAC. Sisters in Spirit, intertwined with its Grandmother Moon logo, has grown to represent the memories and stories of the missing and the dead women.

Sisters in Spirit vigils are held every year to commemorate murdered and missing Aboriginal women and the Grandmother Moon logo is often prominently displayed at these national events.

If the database of the hundreds of murdered and missing women cases turns stagnant, it remains unclear what could take its place. Before the database came into being, it was up to individuals posting on scattered websites to keep the search for missing Aboriginal women going.

The recently announced national police support centre for missing persons and unidentified remains won't be up and running until at least 2013, according to the RCMP. The centre received $4 million of the $10 million set aside in the budget to deal with murdered and missing Aboriginal women.

The centre has also received an additional $6 million for a total of $10 million over five years, the RCMP said.

The centre will become the third branch of the Canadian Police Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, but it will not have a separate section dedicated for Aboriginal women.

The new centre will rely on missing persons reports filed with local police forces. It will provide linkages to other cases if they exist.

The Sisters in Spirit database includes some historical cases that were not accepted by police. It also includes cases where police have closed the book on a woman's death, despite lingering questions from family members.

After the release of its spring report, Sisters in Spirit has been in the process of analysing 20 new cases.

Jorge Barrera is a reporter with the APTN National News Ottawa bureau. The story was originally published on APTN's website.

[[[ SUBMIT TO UPPING THE ANTI ]]]

Pitches due December 3, 2010; first draft due January 7, 2010

*WHO WE ARE*

UPPING THE ANTI: A JOURNAL OF THEORY AND ACTION
is a radical journal published twice a year by a pan-Canadian
collective of activists and organizers. We are dedicated to publishing
radical theory and analysis about struggles against capitalism,
imperialism, and all forms of oppression.

In our first ten issues, we've published articles by and interviews
with renowned activists and intellectuals, including Aijaz Ahmad,
Himani Bannerji, Grace Lee Boggs, Ward Churchill, Michael Hardt,
John Holloway, Sunera Thobani, Andrea Smith, and many more.

We have covered a wide variety of topics including Palestine solidarity
activism, trans politics and anti-capitalism, anti-war activism, Indigenous
solidarity, contemporary feminist organizing, and activist burnout.

In every issue, activists and organizers reflect on the state of
contemporary organizing in Canada and beyond. We publish theoretical
and critical articles, interviews and roundtables. UPPING THE ANTI
also includes a book review section where activists assess new writing
on the Left.


*CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS*

We are currently looking for story ideas for ISSUE TWELVE, which will
be released in APRIL of 2011. If you have an idea for a story you
would like to see published in our journal, please send us a one page pitch
by Sunday, December 3, 2010. In addition to the pitch, please submit a short
writing sample (max 1,000 words).

In your pitch, please provide a brief description of the topic of your
investigation, your main questions, an account of how you will address
these questions, as well as a brief biographical note.

Before submitting a pitch, we encourage you to read back issues in
order to familiarize yourself with the kind of writing that we
publish. We also encourage you to have a look at the UPPING THE ANTI
writer's guide, which can be downloaded at http://uppingtheanti.org.

Pitches should be for original stories that have not been submitted or
published elsewhere. Please do not send us a pitch that you have
simultaneously sent to another publication.

Although we will consider all pitches, we are especially interested in
stories about the current economic crisis, contemporary labour organizing,
feminism and women's struggles, dis/ability, international solidarity work,
mobilization strategies, marxism and anarchism in the 21st Century, activist
interventions in art and culture, and struggles around questions of sex and
sexuality.

We will review your pitch and provide you with feedback. After a pitch
has been approved, writers are expected to submit their story by deadline.

Deadline for first drafts for ISSUE TWELVE is January 7, 2011.

Please submit all pitches and direct all queries to uppingtheanti@gmail.com

*CHECK OUT ISSUE ELEVEN!*

Our next issue will be available in November 2010. Content will include John
Clarke on direct action and the fight against austerity, Stacy Douglas on the
queering of colonization, and Lesley Wood on lessons from the anti-G20
convergence.

The issue will also feature interviews with Raj Patel on the politics of starving,
Ladelle Mcwhorter on normalization and its discontents, James Scott on the art
of not being governed, and roundtables on the twentieth anniversary of the battle
of Oka and on No One Is Illegal's fight to build solidarity city.


**We need your support to keep Upping the Anti running. Pick up the latest
issue, and check out our online subscription program.**

For more information about UPPING THE ANTI, visit http://uppingtheanti.org

Support Bill to Ban Use of Temporary Replacement Workers in Ontario

Ontario needs a law banning the use of temporary replacements workers during a strike or lock out. After a year-long strike at Vale Inco in Sudbury, Ontario where temporary replacement workers were used, Ontario is ready for such a law.

In our Province, 97% of collective agreements are negotiated without work disruptions; and with regard to the remaining 3%, very few strikes or lock-outs involved the use of temporary replacement workers. However, sociological research has shown us that when replacement workers are used in labour disputes, the impact in the short and long term on the people and on the communities in which they reside can be devastating. Laws banning the use of temporary replacement workers, also know as scabs, can also reduce the length and divisiveness of labour disputes.

A law banning the use of temporary replacement workers exists in Québec since 1978, and in British Columbia since 1993; successive governments in those two provinces have never repealed those laws. A similar law existed in Ontario from 1993 to 1996 and during that period of time, investments in Ontario increased.

NDP MPP France Gélinas, has a bill “banning temporary replacement workers” scheduled for a vote November 4th to pass legislation that would prevent employers from exploiting workers by using scabs during labour disputes.

To get involved with this campaign, contact Selina Clement Mikkola at selina@primus.ca

Download the letter from France Gélinas, MPP/Députée Nickel Belt here:
www.facebook.com/l/34ee7kX8NtwocOBFWL49SYsY2XQ;opseu.org/
politicalaction/pdf/France%

20Gelinas%20letter.pdf

Download the petition here:
www.facebook.com/l/34ee7S_LRAFnLtqRllA3N1ENPxA;opseu.org/
politicalaction/pdf/TRW%20Petition.pdf

Visit the OPSEU Political Action -> ban the use of temporary replacement workers page here:
www.facebook.com/l/34ee7S2f8AnrsBLN0hA0uP63PPw;opseu.org/
politicalaction/sept-30-2010-support-ban.htm

NATIONAL CHIEF SHAWN ATLEO INVITED TO ATTEND EDUCATION RALLY

Chief Lyle Sayers of Garden River First Nation issued the following announcement today. The Anishinabek Grand Council will be meeting in Garden River First Nation on Monday, November 8th for their Fall Assembly. National Chief Shawn Atleo will be the key note speaker at the Assembly and has been invited to participate in the Education Rally together with Regional and local First Nation leadership. Together, we will join to support a two-hour highway slowdown in a united response to the Federal Government’s attempts to impose drastic changes to Post-secondary Education without First Nation consultation.

We will slow down the highway traffic from 10am to 12pm on Monday, November 8, 2010 on Highway 17 and 17 B. This is a peaceful rally and we will allow all emergency traffic to proceed through. We encourage anyone with appointments in the city to leave early so that you will not be delayed.

We understand that the general public may not agree with our actions, however, we need government and all good Canadian citizens to hear and understand our important message regarding access to post-secondary funding.

This is rally is about the future of our Nation and giving opportunity and hope to our young people. Too many of our young people feel powerless over their own futures as they are caught in the ditches of welfare dependency and despair. The current education system is failing our youth. Quality culture-based education is the key to addressing the educational achievement gap. Changes to First Nations education require meaningful First Nation consultation.

Short changing First Nations education affects us all. We are the fastest growing population in the country. Statistics Canada has predicted that Canada will face a labour shortage by 2017. With more than half of First Nations people under the age of 23, our youth will need to fill this gap. Access to a university degree will triple ones’ earning potential, therefore creating an opportunity for prosperity among First Nation people that will eliminate the employment gap and inject billions of dollars into the Canadian economy.

National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo of the Assembly of First Nations, Regional Vice-Chief Angus Toulouse of the Chiefs of Ontario, Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee of the Anishinabek Nation, Grand Chief Randal Phillips of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians, Chief Dean Sayers of Batchewana First Nation, and Chief Lyle Sayers of Garden River First Nation are scheduled to speak.

We invite everyone to come and support this peaceful effort. For further information you can contact Darrell Boissoneau, Councillor, Garden River First Nation @ 705-542-0123 or 705-946-6300.

Dr. Hassan Diab's extradition hearing

Dear all,

I am writing to urge you to take a firm public stand against abusive extradition cases by 1) signing the statement below and 2) (if you live in Ottawa) attending Dr. Hassan Diab's extradition hearing, which is scheduled to commence on November 8, 2010 (details below).

On October 15, 2010, Dr. Diab’s lawyer filed important documents with the Court showing how French investigators have manipulated unsourced secret intelligence and other materials to falsely implicate Dr. Diab. The documents also demonstrate how evidence exonerating Dr. Diab has been hidden from the Court. These abusive actions by French investigators constitute an attack on principles of fundamental justice and demonstrate how Canada’s extradition law has so far failed to prevent foreign governments from exercising persecution by proxy and failed to honor Canada's international human rights obligations.

We believe this is a matter of importance to all of us and we hope that you will help uphold principles of fundamental justice by signing the statement below and attending the hearing. Please share this message with your friends and colleagues.

**Sign statement

Please consider endorsing the statement below. To endorse, simply email us at diabsupport@gmail.com and let us know that you endorse the statement.

**Court Watch

Dr. Diab's extradition hearing will commence on Monday, November 8, 2010, and is scheduled to continue until December 3. The hearing will take place at the Ontario Superior Court, 161 Elgin Street, Ottawa.

We invite you to come to the hearing and show your support. Court begins at 10:00 am and ends at 5:00 pm daily with a break for lunch. Attendees can freely (but quietly) enter and leave court whenever they wish.

Please email us at diabsupport@gmail.com and let us know which days/times you plan to attend. We will then be able to notify you if the schedule changes unexpectedly.

A Shock to Our Conscience and an Affront to Liberty:
Stop Hassan Diab’s Forced Removal from Canada

Hassan Diab is a much loved and respected sociology professor who is wrongly accused by French authorities of involvement in an attack near a Paris synagogue in 1980. Hassan Diab condemns that attack and is strongly opposed to ethnically and religiously motivated discrimination and violence.

Hassan Diab is fighting his forced removal from Canada (via “extradition”) to face fabricated charges based on secret intelligence, the sources of which are admittedly unknown even to French authorities. There is serious concern that this intelligence may be the product of torture. Dr. Diab’s case represents the first time that a foreign government has sought the extradition of a Canadian citizen based on secret intelligence that cannot be challenged in a court of law.

The contemporary climate of ethnic, racial, and religious profiling means that Dr. Diab, like many other Muslim and Middle-Eastern Canadians, is becoming yet one more victim in the global “War on Terror”.

Since November 2008, Dr. Diab has suffered through over four and a half months of detention, followed by the loss of his university employment and humiliating and oppressive bail conditions that include an exorbitantly expensive GPS monitoring device.

Canada’s extradition law has long been criticized for failing to honor Canada’s international human rights obligations and to prevent foreign governments from exercising persecution by proxy.

The “evidence” presented by France in an effort to tear Dr. Diab from his friends and family is based on an alarming pattern of serious contradictions, prejudicial opinions, significant misrepresentations and omissions, and withholding or burying of exonerating evidence. Key pieces of evidence appear to have been tampered with, to the point of fraud. To cite but a small handful of many examples:

- Evidence proving Dr. Diab’s innocence has either been buried or perversely transformed into incriminating conclusions.
- French investigators hid from the court in Canada the fact that Dr. Diab’s finger and palm prints do not match those of the alleged suspect.
- Handwriting analysis described by the Canadian Crown prosecutor as akin to a “smoking gun” was withdrawn after internationally renowned experts pronounced it to be biased and of “appalling” reliability. It was replaced by a ‘new’ handwriting analysis which these same experts found to be at least as appalling and biased as the previously withdrawn one.
- French investigators have refused to correct any misrepresentations, contradictions, and inaccuracies in their case despite having had ample time to do so.
- Government of Canada attorneys have argued that French investigators are under NO obligation to present information in their possession that would cast a positive light on Dr. Diab.

It shocks our conscience to see deprivation of liberty based on such scurrilous accusations. We are horrified that the standards of Canada’s Extradition Act are so low that this pretence of a case against Dr. Diab has been allowed to drag on for so long.

Given that such an unjust process has been made to appear "acceptable" - in part because of Dr. Diab's ethnic and religious background - we, the undersigned, are compelled to speak up and publicly call for an end to this clear affront to liberty.

We are opposed to the unjust and oppressive extradition proceedings against Dr. Diab.

We thus call upon the Minister of Justice to:

Exercise the power he has, under extradition law, to immediately halt extradition proceedings against Dr. Diab; and to act on his legal obligation to refuse to make unjust and oppressive extradition orders;
Protect individuals in Canada from unjust and abusive extradition practices; stop the use of secret intelligence of unknown, untestable reliability in extradition hearings; and refuse extraditions to requesting states that use secret, unsourced intelligence or intelligence that may have been derived from torture as trial evidence.
Reform extradition law to take into account Canada’s human rights obligations, including the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, the right to disclosure of evidence, and all other due process rights.

For more information about the case, please visit www.justiceforhassandiab.org. To sign the statement, inquire about other ways to support Dr. Diab, or to obtain a copy of the legal factum detailing the manipulation of intelligence and twisting of evidence, please send us an email to diabsupport@gmail.com.