Archive for Actions

Merlin Andrew, who may be our most senior supporter at 92 years of age, invites others to join her at the following event:

Protest trade in dog and cat fur
Tuesday, 2007 February 13, noon – 1 pm
Chinese Consulate, 240 St George St
(north of St George subway between Lowther & Bernard)

From the flyer:

Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, and the United States have slammed the door on the gruesome trade. In November 2006, the European Commission proposed a ban on the import, export and sale of dog and cat fur in the European Union.
…
Unless Canada wants to become an appalling dumping ground for dog- and cat-fur products, Canadians must join the effort to halt the cruel trade here.

Tomorrow [Friday, February 2] is the deadline for submissions to the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation regarding visions for Toronto’s Lower Don Lands.  The TWRC is holding a design competition and wants input from the public about what they’d like to see at the mouth of the Don.  Please submit your vision.

I want to point out that I believe that this move has been prompted in no small part because of the courage and determination of people like Sharon Howarth, Karen Buck, Terry Fahey, Michael Rosenberg, David Hanna, Daniel Matmor and others who persisted in demanding a broader vision than what the City appeared to be offering.     Read more »

Last Saturday, I participated in a rally to Close Guantanamo.  It was a rally I helped to organize with the USA Team of Amnesty International, but I never even blogged about it because I was so busy with other things.

Guantanamo is where the United States continues to hold hundreds of prisoners captured in Afghanistan.  By labeling these prisoners “enemy combatants”, the United States has claimed that they have no legal rights whatsoever.  The rally marked five years that the prison has been in operation.  Many of the prisoners that remain at Guantanamo have not had any contact with family in all these years.  Dozens of them are juveniles.  There have been suicides, hunger strikes, force-feedings and deaths.  Allegations of torture are numerous.  In fact, the United States does not deny engaging in sleep deprivation, playing loud and/or offensive music at all times of the night and day and using other techniques they do not deem torture when they are the torturers.  During the rally, we were asked for 5 minutes of silence to mark this grim anniversary.  As I thought about what these prisoners have endured, and what their families have endured, I started to cry, as I always do at Amnesty rallies.     Read more »

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is releasing its next report.

There’s a world-wide initiative to raise awareness for climate change. The plan is for everyone, at the same time around the globe, to turn off all electrical lights, computers, appliances and gadgets for five minutes on Thursday, February 1 (today).

In Toronto this will be from 1:55 pm to 2:00 pm.

Today’s kids are fixing the mess their elders and leaders have left them.  Let’s help them keep a liveable world for themselves and for their children.  Sign the CYCC petition on climate change.