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Network News –
Connexions Digest #45
(Volume 11, Number 1, Spring 1987)
Canadian Peace Education News
The Pembina Institute
for Appropriate Development is beginning the
production of a national quarterly, the Canadian Peace Education
News, on behalf of the Canadian Peace Educators Network.
The publication will share information, resources, ideas, and discuss
problems and issues, related to implementing education on peace
and security in the formal educational systems. Individual subscriptions
will be $18; bulk rates are negotiable.
West Word Three
West Cost Women and Words in sponsoring its third annual
summer school/writing retreat for women, on August 9 to August 22,
1987, in Vancouver. For more information write to West Word Three,
Box 65563, Station F, Vancouver, B.C. V6N 4B0, or phone (604) 872–8014.
Standin’ the Gaff
The Canadian Popular Theatre Alliance and the International
Festival of Popular Theatre are presenting Standin’ the Gaff,
an international conference in Sydney, Nova Scotia, May 20–30, 1987.
Performers include Sistren from Jamaica, Aloke Ray of India, Teocayani
of Nicaragua, a Southern African group and others. Development educators
may apply to a travel fund. Registration forms: Standin’ the Gaff,
P.O. Box 1796, Sydney, N.S. B1P 6W4.
Prairie Windbreak
Prairie Windbreak is a training session on development education
for the prairie region being held in Ft. Qu’Appelle on June 26–28,
1987. Contact: 1602 – 12th Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 0L6.
CANDU for New Brunswick?
The Conservation Council of New Brunswick is asking for help
in fighting the proposed Lepreau II nuclear plant. The plant will
only go ahead with substantial financing from the federal government,
and Energy Minister Marcel Masse has indicated that a decision on
this commitment will come before the end of May. If approved, Lepreau
will be the first North American nuclear reactor sold since 1978.
Call the CCNB at (506) 458–8747.
Canadian Environmental Network Meeting
The Canadian Environmental
Network is holding its annual meeting on May 8 – 11,
near Ottawa. This year’s theme is "Action for a Sustainable
Society". The agenda revolves around three subthemes: Conservation,
Jobs and the Environment, and Pollution Problems. Contact: Canadian
Environmental Network, P.O. Box 1289, Station B, Ottawa, Ontario
K1S 5B6.
A Close Call
A Close Call is a play about environmental activism in the eighties.
Its creators, Jackie Moad and Laurie Gourlay, wrote it to give expression
to the movement’s quirks, visions, foibles, passions and hopes.
They welcome any organizations that might wish to use the play in
community development, peace, justice or environmental endeavours.
To obtain a copy of the script, write to A Close Call, 1 Susan Ave.,
London, Ont. N5V 2G1 and enclose $3 for printing and mailing (no
charge if you are broke).
Mutual Aid Community
The Mutual Aid Community of Toronto is interested in starting one
or more co–op housing projects, and welcomes anyone who would like
to participate. For more info call (416) 928–2144.
Day of Mourning
Every year, more than 1,000 Canadian workers are killed on the job.
Thousands more are permanently disabled. Hundreds of thousands are
injured. Thousands of others die from cancer, lung disease, and
other ailments caused by exposure to toxic substances at their workplace.
April 28 of each year has been chosen by the Canadian Labour
Congress as a Day of Mourning for these victims of workplace
accidents and disease. The CLC urges that it be a day to remember
the supreme sacrifice they have been forced in order to earn a living,
and a day to renew pressure on governments for tougher occupational
health and safety standards. CLC Labour Councils are organizing
local events observing the Day of Mourning. If your local union
wants to organize an event in areas remote from city centres, please
write as soon as possible for an information and organization kit
to CLC Workplace Health and Safety, 2841 Riverside Drive, Ottawa,
Ontario K1V 8X7.
National Inquiry on Homelessness
The Canadian Council on Social Development, in conjunction
with the International Year for the Homeless, is conducting a national
inquiry on homelessness in Canada from March through June. During
these months, ten provincial workshops will be conducted to provide
a forum for homeless people, governmental and non–governmental agencies,
churches, professionals, and the public. Contact: MaryAnn McLaughlin,
Project Co–ordinator, Canadian Council of Social Development, P.O.
Box 3505, Station C, 55 Parkdale Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4G1,
(613) 728–1865.
Canadian Mining in Philippines
The Asia–Pacific People’s Environment Network (APPEN) says
that residents of Marinduque Province in the Philippines have since
1981 been faced with the pollution of their major fishing areas
and rich coral reefs. As a result, more than 1,000 fishermen have
been forced to undergo misery as their fishing ground is no longer
safe for fishing. According to APPEN, the problem started in 1975
when a Canadian mining firm, Marcopper Mining Corporation, a subsidiary
of Placer Development Corporation in Vancouver, started dumping
copper mining tailings into Calancan Bay. Marcopper has been polluting
Calancan Bay with Toxic chemicals including cyanide, mercury, and
cadmium. APPEN requests that Canadians apply pressure on the corporation
to rehabilitate the Bay as soon as possible. They also ask for help
in finding a Canadian Expert who could assist them by coming to
the Philippines to do a study and recommend measures for the regeneration
of the Bay. For more information contact V.C. Mohan, APPEN, c/o
Sahabat Alam Malaysia, 37, Lorong Birch, Penang, West Malaysia,
or, Sr. Ma. Aida Velasquez, Luzon Co–ordinator, Lingkod Tao–Kalikasan,
2466 Leon Guinto, P.O. Box 3153, Manila, Philippines.
Women Living Under Muslim Laws
The International
Solidarity Network of Women Living Under Muslim Laws
was formed in response to situations in which women have faced severe
discrimination in countries with Muslim laws. One of the network’s
current priorities is to help divorced women who are denied access
to their children. The network asks for help in its work. Contact:
Reseau international de solidarite, 34980 Combaillaux (Montpelier)
France.
Peoples’ Action Coalition
The Peoples’ Action Coalition (see CX 3167) is defunct. The PAC
tapes are still available through One Sky, 134 Avenue F South,
Saskatoon, Sask. S7M 1S8.
General Electric Boycott
INFACT, the citizen’s group that led the successful seven–year
boycott of Nestle products, has called for a consumer boycott of
General Electric for its role in the arms race. GE was chosen as
a target because it makes more parts for nuclear weapons systems
(MX missiles, Trident submarines, etc.) than any other firm. GE
was the first contractor to be indicted for defrauding the Pentagon,
has a lobbying staff of 120 in Washington, and makes the neutron
generator trigger for every H bomb in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Canadian Women’s Archives
Correction: The Spring 1986 issue of the Connexions
Digest contained some out–dated info about the Canadian
Women’s Archives. The Archives’ Address is now 455 Spadina Ave.,
Ste. 215, Toronto Ontario M5S 2G8. Since 1972 the Canadian Women’s
Movement Archives has been preserving material on the women’s movement
in Canada from 1960 to the present. They have files on over 1500
women’s organizations, 600 women’s periodicals and collections of
buttons, posters, T–shirts and ephemera. The Archives open from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, is part of an international
network of alternative archives, set up to ensure the preservation
of material on women’s history. It also has a small library to help
researchers. Women’s groups are asked to send copies of their materials
to the Archives.
Death Penalty
The Coalition Against The Return of the Death Penalty warns
that pressure to bring back the death penalty in Canada is building
in Parliament. The coalition urges people to support continued abolition
by writing to their members of parliament, with copies to Mulroney
and the Minister of Justice Minister, House of Commons, Ottawa,
Ont. K1A 0A6. For more information on the coalition, contact Jack
Friesen Quaker Committee on Jails and Justice, 60 Lowther Ave.,
Toronto, Ont. M5R 1C7 (416)922–6128.
Talent Bank of Feminist Cartoonists
Women who would like to be included are invited to submit their
names, addresses, and a sample of their work to Susan de Rosa, c/o
Communiquelles, 3585 St. Urbain Street, Montreal H2X 2N6.
The bank will be accessible to feminist magazines and associations
across Canada.
Project for Environmental Priorities
The Project For Environmental Priorities (PEP) of Toronto is gathering
its energies for another provincial election and needs your participation
and support. The requirements for being a participating group in
PEP are simple – time, energy, money or any combination of the three.
All PEP meetings are in Toronto. If you can’t make the meetings
but want to keep informed or want further info about becoming a
sponsoring group, call or write: Kirk Roberts, P. O. Box 125, Stn
P, Toronto M5S 2Z7 (416) 588–3843.
Community Arts Resource Centre
Second Look Community Arts Resource Centre of Toronto is looking
for volunteers to help run programs, and financial help to continue
their work. If you are interested in getting involved in popular
theatre, please call (416) 924–0101.
Environment Directories
The Ontario
Environment Network is working on a directory of environmental
spokespeople, arranged by area of expertise, to be used by the media
in locating appropriate sources quickly. The second part of this
project will give environmental groups an Ontario–wide list of media
contacts. Another project being planned is a directory of federal
and provincial agencies, boards and commissions concerned with environment
issues. All the directories will be available in print and electronic
form. Contact: Ontario Environment Network, P.O. Box 125, Station
P, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2Z7, (416) 588–3843.
Magpie River Project
The environmental group, Friends of the Magpie, is opposing
the Magpie River Project which it says would send toxic chemicals
into Lake Superior with the threat of irreversible environmental
damage. The proposed project would see Great Lakes Power Limited
building dams on the Magpie River, thereby flooding areas which
are heavily contaminated with large amounts of toxic chemicals.
The areas to be flooded would come within the extensive "fume
kill" created by emissions from iron ore smelting activities
in Wawa. A significant portion of this area is devoid of life. Friends
of the Magpie says that the flooding would bring these chemicals
into Lake Superior. For more information contact Friends of the
Magpie, c/o David MacLachlan, P.O. Box 1890, Wawa, Ontario P0S 1K0,
(705) 856–2753.
Women in Science, Technology, and Medicine in Developing Countries
Managua, Nicaragua, will be the host of the Central American Conference
on Women in Science, Technology and Medicine in Developing Countries
on August 24 – 28, 1987. The conference will discuss the experiences,
prospects, and strategies of women in science in developing countries.
The focus will be on women in Central America, but participants
are invited from other parts of the world. Each participant from
a developed country is asked to pay a registration fee of $50. Following
the conference, an optional tour of Nicaragua will be provided at
a reasonable extra charge. Contact Prof. Ann Hibner Koblitz, Department
of History, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02181, U.S.A.
Outside the Nuclear Club
A conference on the theme Outside the Nuclear Club: Options for
Non–Nuclear Power in Promoting Peace and Security, will be held
at York University, Toronto, on June 10 – 13, 1987. Contact Office
of the Master, 258E Atkinson, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto,
Ontario M3J 1P3.
Reproductive Hazards
Reproductive Hazards: Are You at Risk?, by WOSH/Women Working,
is a 23–page booklet designed as a practical guide to reproductive
hazards for working women. It includes information of identifying
the hazards and taking action. It is available to individuals and
unions at $4 a copy, and to institutions and businesses at $6 a
copy from WOSH/Working Women, 1109 Windsor, Ontario N8W lB3, (519)
254–4192.
Vancouver Society on Immigrant Women
The B.C. Task Force on Immigrant Women has changed its name to the
Vancouver Society on Immigrant Women. They can be reached at 104
– 1045 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6H 1E2, (604) 734–8386.
Waste Management Conference
The 9th Canadian Conference on Waste Management will be held Oct.
7, 8, and 9, 1987 in Edmonton at the Westin Hotel. On Oct. 5 &
6, there will be site visits to Swan Hills Hazardous Waste Treatment
Facility. For more details, contact Chem–Security, John S. Richardson,
1323 44th Ave. NE, Calgary T2E 6L5 (403)250–3742.
Mayworks
Mayworks ’87, a Festival of Working People and the Arts, will be
held May 1 to 10 in Toronto. The organizing committee is looking
for volunteers to help with the event. For more info call Katie
Pellizzari (416) 651–9676.
Pest or Guest
Pest or Guest is a booklet from the Society Promoting Environmental
Conservation (SPEC) which gives practical information on how
to control everything from aphids to wasps in the garden, and ants
to whiteflies in the home, using alternative forms of pest control.
Sections on beneficial insects, weeds, and making barriers, sprays,
and rinses. 32 pages, from SPEC, 2150 Maple St., Vancouver B.C.
V6J 3T3, (604) 736–7732.
Our Nuclear Backyard
The Kootenay Centre for a Sustainable Future is holding a
conference on Our Nuclear Backyard: A Conference About Hanford.
For conference information contact Sandra Harline, Hanford Conference
Co–ordinator, Box 727, Nelson B.C. V1L 5R4, (604) 352–9871.
Women and Wellbeing Conference
A conference called Women and Wellbeing will be held on Nov. 6,
7 and 8, 1987 at Westin Hotel in Winnipeg. The conference is sponsored
by Canadian Research Institute For The Advancement of Women (CRIAW)
and will focus on the ways that women have learned to strengthen
and protect their own wellbeing and that of others. For more info,
call conference planners at (204) 949–1653.
Arts and Communication Directory
The Toronto Arts & Communication Directory 1987 will soon be
available from the World Society For Arts And Communications
(WSAC). WSAC, which is committed to "linking communities
through arts and communications" produces a newsletter and
plans to start publishing a tabloid called World Beam sometime this
year. Details about these publications can obtained by writing to
WSAC, P. O. Box 1174, Stn. A, Toronto M5E 1G6.
Community Switchboard
Questions about social change activities in Toronto? Want to spread
the word about your group’s next event? Call Community Switchboard
(416)928–2144.
Self–Help Groups
The Metropolitan Toronto Self–Help Clearinghouse is updating
its directory of self–help, mutual aid groups for metropolitan Toronto.
Groups interested in being included can add their names by calling
(416) 978–3270 or by writing to: Metropolitan Toronto Self–Help
Clearinghouse, 246 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1.
Collected for, but not published in, Volume 11, #1
Energy Probe seeks volunteers
Energy Probe welcomes word processors as regular volunteers for
editing and entering (using Wordstar). Training on the job as necessary.
For more information, please call Sue Zielinski at 978–7014.
Industrial Fluoride Pollution
The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) has
produced a new video on the sources and effects of industrial flouride
pollution. Available in VHS or Beta from SPEC at 2150 Maple St.,
Vancouver, B.C. V6J 3T3 for $35.
AlterNET
AlterNET is a Canadian non–profit organization created to facilitate
information–sharing among people working for a better world. They
are working with other organizations to promote the development
of an international network of local computer communications centres.
AlterNET operates an Ottawa–based computer communications system,
and is willing to assist other organizations in setting up similar
systems elsewhere. AlterNET asks others involved in computer networking
to keep them informed of developments in your community or elsewhere.
Contact: AlterNET, P.O. Box 2206, Station D, Ottawa, Ontario K1P
5W4. Phone: Voice: (613) 224–8588 or 231–2977. Computer: (613) 230–9519
(300 or 1200 baud, No Parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit)—24 hours
a day, 7 days a week.
Compiled by Ulli Diemer. Connexions Collective members
and volunteers for Volume 11, Number 1 (Spring 1987): Ulli
Diemer, Guylaine Spencer, Elizabeth Wall, Corinne Dixon, Lucinda
Cooke, Ted Dyment, Andrew Waldie, Elaine Farragher, Elgin Blair,
Eric Mills, Rosalie Smith, Nick Stahl, Eric Walmsley, Bob Bettson,
Karl Amdur.
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