Archive for 2011 January

You are invited to attend the Toronto-Danforth Federal Green Party Association and the Green Party of Ontario’s Toronto Danforth Constituency Associations’ 2011 Annual General Meetings.

Riding Association AGMs
Saturday, 2011 February 19, 3 pm (1 hour)
Ralph Thornton Centre, 765 Queen St East (east of Broadview)
Pape Library was double booked

All members, supporters and the public are welcome.

Also, Adriana’s campaign team is going to have an eat-and-meet at earlier that day.  Please feel free to join us:

Campaign Team Meeting
Saturday, 2011 February 19, 1 pm
The Real Jerk, 709 Queen St E (at Broadview)

AGM agenda items:     Read more »

GPO Annual General Meeting
Friday – Sunday, 2011 April 15 – 17
Huntsville, Ontario     Read more »

Adriana will be one of the speakers reporting back from the UN climate change negotiations in Cancún.

Cancún: Eyewitness Report and Discussion
Thursday, 2011 January 20, 7 pm
Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street
(east of Spadina, south of College)

Speakers:

• Andrea Harden — Energy Campaigner, Council of Canadians.
• Adriana Mugnatto-Hamu — JustEarth, Toronto Climate Campaign, Post Carbon Toronto.
• John Dillon — Economic Justice Program Coordinator, KAIROS.

Video:

• Pablo Solón — Bolivia’s UN Ambassador.     Read more »

Our government’s focus on carbon capture as a way of reducing emissions was always expensive.  Now it looks like it might not even work at all.     Read more »

Wednesday, 2011 January 26, 7 to 9 pm
Trinity St Paul’s United Church
427 Bloor St West — Free

Join JustEarth for an exciting talk by political experts on political solutions to a climate in crisis.

Speakers:

• Glen Murray — Liberal MPP, Minister of Research and Innovation, former chair of the National Roundtable on Environment and Economy, and former mayor of Winnipeg.
• Lynn McDonald — Professor Emerita, former MP, sociologist and author.
• Peter H. Russell — Constitutional Expert, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, and author.
• Moderator: David Neelands — Dean of Divinity at Trinity College, University of Toronto.

Monday, 2011 January 17, 6 to 8 pm
U of T Koffler House, room KP108
569 Spadina Ave (enter by the east side doors) — Free

Join Canadians Advocating Political Participation (CAPP) Toronto for a talk with Carolyn Bennett on the view of democracy from Ottawa.  A PowerPoint presentation will be included.  Unfortunately, Ms. Bennett can only stay until 7 pm, but there will be a discussion afterward.

2011 Peace and Conflict Studies conference
Friday, 2011 January 28, 3 pm to 9 pm
Saturday, 2011 January 29, 9:30 am to 6 pm
University of Toronto

The Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict at the University of Toronto hosts the 2011 Peace and Conflict Studies conference. With a focus on the community level of analysis, the conference contends that local-level considerations are vital to the reduction of structural violence. With the community as the foundation, the conference will survey the contours of six sub-topics – education, justice, media, memorialization, infrastructure, and psychological trauma – in a series of panel discussions. These will be united by an opening keynote event with three keynote speeches.

For more information and to register, click here.

Monday 2011 January 24, 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm
William Doo Auditorium, University of Toronto
45 Willcocks St

Attend a special screening of ‘The Economics of Happiness’, a new documentary film by Helena Norberg-Hodge about the worldwide movement for economic localization.

The film features a chorus of voices calling for systemic economic change, including: Vandana Shiva, David Korten, Michael Shuman, Richard Heinberg, Rob Hopkins, Juliet Schor, Zac Goldsmith, Bill McKibben, and Samdhong Rinpoche, the Prime Minister of Tibet’s government in exile. If you can’t attend the launch event, there are other ways to be involved.     Read more »

Canadian Organic Growers (COG) – one-day conference
Saturday, 2011 February 19, 9 am to 5 pm
University of Toronto Conference Centre, 89 Chestnut St

Panels include: Moms Against GMOs, Natural vs Organic, Whistleblowers, EnviroPig, Is Walmart Compatible with Organic?, Hidden GMOs, Make Heritage Seeds Work for You, The Wonder Years: Bread and Beer, The Future of Agriculture, Organic Beauty Products, and more.

Cost: $65 (after February 5: $85)
COG members: $55 (after February 5:- $65)
Special rates available for students, retirees and the unwaged.

    Read more »

There is a lot of noise being made today about the Pembina Institute’s comparison of the Metrolinx and Mayor Rob Ford’s transit expansion plans.  The Toronto Star reported on it and the Toronto Environmental Alliance has been alerting its members to it as well.  Whether you prefer subways or light rail, you still have to conclude that Mayor Ford’s plan is inconsistent with his stand on reducing waste.  If you want subways to deliver anywhere close to the kind of service you can get from surface transit, you better be prepared for substantially higher taxes.

Meanwhile, George Monbiot in the United Kingdom is facing the identical nonsensical rhetoric of “ending the war against the car”, and writes as only he can:     Read more »