[opirgyork] Events and Actions Coming Up!

[aruna at opirgyork.ca]

Greetings all!

Hope you are having a wonderful end of year. We have lots of amazing and
important events and actions coming up in the next couple of weeks, and we
hope that you will join our OPIRG York crew at all of them.

We are very excited that hundreds of people have already signed up for the
bus to Six Nations, to show support and build relations with the people of
Six Nations, please make sure to sign up for the buses if you haven't
already (#2). We are also pleased to announce details of the historic
Freedom Train (#7), where Indigenous members of the Yinka Dene Alliance
are taking a train from Northern BC to Toronto, stopping along the way to
pick up members of impacted communities, to protest against pipelines and
tankers at the Enbridge Annual General Meeting on May 9th.

And of course - May day! (#3) March and rally with thousands as we join
the world on International workers day to call for status and liberation
for all!

See you on the streets!
-OPIRG York

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

1) Egypt's Unfinished Revolution - Promise & Perils
2) Get on the Bus from Toronto to Six Nations March for Peace, Respect and
Friendship!
3) #May1TO: MAY DAY OF ACTION
4) Barrick Gold AGM Protest
5) The 8th annual Asian Heritage Month Education Roundtable and the 10th
annual Asian Heritage Month Lecture
6) Alien-Nation with Lishai, Truth is..., Ritallin, Dub Trinity, DJ Leila P.
7) Yinka Dene Alliance Freedom Train - Toronto Stop - Block the Pipelines:
Stop the Tar Sands
8) Canadian Stage and Eventual Ashes present: Ocean Carving
9) The Art, Science and Spirit of Decolonization Workshop by Zainab Amadahy
10) LAL Cd Release - LAL is a mushroom, a magical one
11) Toronto Stop the Cuts - Well the time has come to have FUN!!!!

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

1) Egypt's Unfinished Revolution - Promise & Perils

Location: The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), room 5150
Date: Friday, April 27
Time: 7pm

More than a year after a historic popular uprising in Egypt toppled former
dictator Hosni Mubarak, the country remains at a crossroads. The Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has refused to cede power despite
growing calls for an end to military rule. With scheduled presidential
elections less than two months away, the future of the Egyptian revolution
looks far from certain. Egypt and the Arab uprisings will be the topic of
this GTWA Coffeehouse with speakers David McNally and Ali Mustafa, who
recently returned to Canada from the Middle East where he spent the past 9
months covering the Egyptian revolution and greater region. The evening
will include a discussion period.

Speakers:

David McNally teaches political science at York University, Toronto, and
is the author ofGlobal Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and
Resistance

Ali Mustafa is a writer and multimedia journalist. His work has appeared
in many alternative sites and publications, including Znet, The New York
Times eXaminer, Electronic Intifada,rabble.ca, and The Bullet.

The event is organized by the GTWA Internal Education and Political
Development Committee

Endorsed by: OPIRG - Toronto, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, No One
Is Illegal, Toronto New Socialists, Socialist Project, Toronto Coalition
to Stop the War

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2) Get on the Bus from Toronto to Six Nations March for Peace, Respect and
Friendship!

Get on a bus to Six Nations for the April 28 March for Peace, Respect &
Friendship in response to the call-out from Land Protectors of
Kanonhstaton to demand that Six Nations land rights be respected.

BUS DEPARTS TORONTO
12:30pm (sharp), Please arrive by 12:15pm

BUS DEPARTS KANONHSTATON
7:00pm (sharp)

Suggested donation: $10, but absolutely no one turned away for lack of funds.

Please register by visiting 
http://april28coalition.wordpress.com/our-transportation-registration-form/

Full details at: www.28april.net

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3) #May1TO: MAY DAY OF ACTION

please share www.bit.ly/May1TO and http://on.fb.me/MAY1TO!
On May 1, Rally at 4pm at Nathan Phillips Square
followed by Performances & Celebration at 7pm at Alexandra Park

Canada is shutting out Refugees and Families! On May Day 2012 march for
Status for All!

For the last six years, No One Is Illegal - Toronto has coordinated a May
Day of Action to celebrate and invigorate migrant justice struggles. This
year dozens of groups across the City are collaborating in a show of
solidarity and strength to mark the May Day of Action. On May 1st, 2012 No
One Is Illegal - Toronto will take the streets to push back against the
refugee exclusion act (Bill C-31), ensure family reunification in the face
of cuts to permanent immigration for parents and grandparents, and support
decolonization struggles on Turtle Island. JOIN US!

The refugee exclusion act or Bill C-31 effectively ends what little
*permanent* protection existed in Canada’s refugee protection system. The
brutal machinery of detention and deportation is being expanded with
mandatory jail sentences for many asylum seekers. A racist, disableist,
two-tiered system is being built where refugees get fewer rights based on
their nationality. Since February, Roma, Latin American, Immigrant and
Queer communities have taken actions to fight the Refugee Exclusion Act
and on May Day 2012 we will take to the streets! (More on C31:
http://bit.ly/xc5XP6)

With the heroically named Parent and Grandparent Super Visa coming into
effect, Kenney and Harper have demonstrated that they hate your
grandparents. The "Super Visa" allows temporary reunification to families
in Canada (only to those families, of course, that can afford to pay
exorbitant funds for private healthcare) while slamming the door shut on
permanent reunification for families by placing a moratorium on family
sponsorships. While this so-called moratorium is until 2014, Kenney has
just started consultations to *limit* the program permanently. Harper and
Kenney are taking the destructive agenda of the temporary migrant workers
program and forcing it in on to the family sponsorship and refugee
determination process. We must resist.

Pipelines, tankers, mines and housing projects are being forced onto the
homelands of Indigenous nations. Indigenous communities are being locked
up in prisons, children thrown into state custody. Yet land defenders
across Turtle Island continue to struggle and resist. From KI, to Grassy
Narrows, to Six Nations - migrant justice struggles are joining with
Indigenous struggles for self-determination. This May Day 2012, we honor
ongoing decolonization struggles and commit to continuing our support.

In the face of austerity, climate destruction, criminalization, colonial
and capitalist wars here and across the world that push people out of
their homes, we fight for status for all. Status for All is the struggle
for self-determination, just livelihood, housing, food, education,
healthcare, childcare, shelter, justice and dignity for all people, paid
or unpaid, with or without immigration status.

This May Day 2012, on international workers' day, the rally begins at 4pm
at City Hall. Community organizations are marching to respect Indigenous
sovereignty, to insist that no one is illegal, for international workers
solidarity, to defend and expand public services, to stop prison expansion
and corporate bail-outs, to end imperialist wars and aggression, to build
people’s power, and to move beyond capitalism.

Organizations, networks and coalitions are requested to write their own
call for why they are marching on this day. This is ours.

*Free Meal (provided by Food Not Bombs)
*ASL-English at the Rally and 7pm performances
*Closest accessible transit station is Queen Station. There will be
accessible transit during the march.

The rally, march & cultural festival from 4pm to 9pm are being coordinated
by Occupy Toronto, May 1st Movement and No One Is Illegal - Toronto.

Media Sponsor: rabble.ca

Endorsed & Supported by Afghans for Peace, CAMP Sis, Canadian Auto Workers
Union, Centre for Social Justice, Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid,
Committee for the Defence of the Iranian Peoples Rights (Canada
Organization), Committee of Progressive Pakistani-Canadians, Common Cause
Toronto, Communist Party of Canada, DAMN, Greater Toronto Workers'
Assembly, Health for All, International Council of Latin American and
Caribbean Women in Canada, International Federation of Iranian Refugees,
Iraqi Federation of Refugees in Canada, International League of People's
Struggles Canada, Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Law
Union of Ontario, Maggie's: Toronto Sex Workers Action Project, Metro
Toronto Labour Council, Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, Movement
Defence Committee, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Ontario Federation
of Labour, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation District 12,
OPIRG Toronto, OPIRG York, ProtestBarrick, Rhythms of Resistance,
Socialist Project, Stop the Cuts, Toronto Bolivia Solidarity, Toronto
Socialist Action, Trans Film Screenings, Tudeh Party of Iran - Canada
Organization, United May Day Committee, Unity Against Unemployment in
Iraq, Women's Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu [Toronto],
Workers Action Centre, Workers Communist Party of Iran and more...

JOIN MAY DAY!

- Call-In Sick. Take the day off and do something you love. Organize your
own action if you like. And at 4pm come to the rally and march.

- Organize a contingent: bring a group of people from your class,
organization, neighbourhood, or union local to this demonstration, bring
your demands, banners, flags and signs.

- Help fund a bus, food, transit tokens, ASL, and materials for the day.
If you or your organization or union local can make donations of money or
in-kind, please help us make this day as participatory and accessible as
possible. Cheques can be made to No One Is Illegal and mailed to 260 Queen
Street West, PO Box 60006, Toronto, ON M5V 1Z8. Please put May Day in the
memo line and email may1toronto2012 at gmail.com to let us know.

- Build the movement: add your organization to the list of endorsers for
this day of action. Emailmay1toronto2012 at gmail.com

- Get the word out. Call, text, and email your friends. Come to one of the
postering days. Email us atmay1toronto2012 at gmail.com if you need posters
or flyers. Share one of the facebook events, or better yet, start your
own! Make sure to tag everything, including pictures and videos after,
with the hashtag #May1TO

Important dates up to May Day and beyond

April 24, 2012, 6:30pm
Marshalls mtg, email nooneisillegal at riseup.net to register

April 29, 2012, 1pm - 6pm, Parkette outside 252 Bloor W.
Postering party

May 1, 2012, 4pm, City Hall
Rally and March for May Day

May 1, 2012, 7pm, Alexandra Park
Performances & Celebration

May 1, 2012, 9pm, Leaving from Alexandra Park
March & Re-Occupation autonomously organized by Occupy Toronto
Bring Tent.

May 5, 2012, 8pm, The Rivoli
Party! Alien-Nation
http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/691

More actions may be announced!

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4) Barrick Gold AGM Protest

*WHEN: *10:30am May 2
*WHERE:* 255 Front St. Metro Convention Center

Once a year, the board of Directors of the world's most powerful gold
mining corporation converge in downtown Toronto. Join us and
representatives from mining-impacted communities to... CONFRONT BARRICK
GOLD!

*WHY PROTEST BARRICK?
*
In countries like Australia, Chile, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania, Barrick
takes advantage of inadequate and poorly enforced regulatory controls to
rob indigenous people of their lands, destroy sensitive ecosystems and
agricultural land, support brutal police and security operations, and sue
anyone who tries to report on it. In the context of this libel chill,
Barrick has branded itself as the socially responsible mining giant and
boasts its listing on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

Behind the scenes, Barrick has been singled out as the company most
involved in the lobbying effort to stop private member’s bill C-300. This
bill would have withdrawn government funding and diplomatic support for
companies found – after an investigation – to be abusing human rights or
violating international environmental norms. In October 2010, bill C-300
lost by a mere 6 votes. Now, Barrick uses its influence with government to
direct millions of international aid dollars to fund projects next to a
their mines.

Closer to home, Barrick's Peter Munk pledged to contribute $35 million to
the University of Toronto for the establishment of the Munk School of
Global Affairs. The donation contract – which was negotiated and approved
in secret – provides Munk with influence over the school's curriculum and
spells out the conditions under which the School will house the Canadian
International Council (CIC), a right-wing think tank.


****Save the date: Mining Injustice Resistance 2012 conference, May 4th -
6th****

Follow ProtestBarrick.net :: facebook.com/protestbarrick ::
twitter.com/stopbarrick :: youtube.com/waysofseeing


"We are attacked continuously and we are attacked often by a very noisy
and very articulate opposition," Peter Munk, Barrick Annual General
Meeting, 2010

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5) ASIAN CANADIAN STUDIES: THEORIES, POLITICS, PEDAGOGIES The 8th annual
Asian Heritage Month Education Roundtable and the 10th annual Asian
Heritage Month Lecture

FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Wednesday, May 2, 2012
5 PM – 8 PM | reception at 7 PM
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
OISE Library, Ground Floor
252 Bloor Street West | St. George subway station

Keynote Lecture
"Engaging with the Reality of Canada"
Henry Yu
Principal, St. John's Graduate College and Associate Professor, History
University of British Columbia

Panel
Enakshi Dua
Director, Centre for Feminist Research and Associate Professor, Women's
Studies
York University

Takashi Fujitani
Dr. David Chu Chair, Asia Pacific Studies and Professor, History
University of Toronto

Marissa Largo
Teacher, Toronto Catholic District School Board and PhD Student, OISE
University of Toronto

Closing
Roxana Ng
Professor, Adult Education and Community Development, OISE University of
Toronto

Event Sponsors
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto
Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education
Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies

For event and media inquiries, contact Roland Sintos Coloma
(416) 978-0462 office | roland.coloma at utoronto.ca

For more 2012 Asian Heritage Month activities, please visit
www.asian-heritage-month.org.

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

6) Alien-Nation with Lishai, Truth is..., Ritallin, Dub Trinity, DJ Leila P.
http://www.facebook.com/events/346880595362177/
http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/691

Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts & No One Is Illegal -
Toronto invite you to a night of performances, dances and celebration!

Special Live Performances By:
*****| LISHAI............ www.lishai.ca
*****| TRUTH IS .......... www.myspace.com/truthisellipsis
*****| RITALLIN ............... www.ritallin.com
*****| DUB TRINITY .......... www.dubtrinity.com
*****| DJ LEILA P

@ THE RIVOLI (332 Queen W, Queen & Spadina)
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2012
8PM - 11PM
$10 - $15 sliding scale

Alien-Nation is a celebration of creative resistance in struggle - through
art and music to build more resilient communities. By focusing on workers’
struggles and systemic discrimination and injustices, we raise our voices
in solidarity with undocumented and precariously documented migrants for
justice.

Performing are three amazing spoken word artists and one feature band who
have consistently celebrated the resistance of migrant workers. Don’t miss
Lishai, an award winning poet and powerful performer; Truth Is... - back
by popular demand - whose passion is only surpassed by her desire to
explore and express the truth itself; and Ritallin, a highly respected
name in Canada’s spoken word community and arts educator who will be
followed by a feature performance by Dub Trinity. Dub Trinity is a
high-spirited, six-piece dub/ska band that brings social consciousness to
the dance floor. Having just released their latest album, Alexandria (and
other cautionary tales), Dub Trinity’s relationship with political issues
has led to collaborations with various community and human rights-based
organizations.

In a context of global austerity, migrants are suffering xenophobic and
racist scapegoating. Working in the back rooms of hotels and restaurants,
in private homes as caregivers, on construction sites, and in factories,
farm fields, and oil rigs, undocumented and precarious status migrants are
treated like aliens. Forced to slave in low-wage jobs, working without
benefits and paying into social services they can’t access, they live in
daily fear of detention and deportation. Join us as we celebrate their
spirit of resilience with stellar music and poetry and close out the night
with DJ Leila P.

Co-sponsored by No One Is Illegal - Toronto.
(Make sure to join NOII-TO at #May1TO: Rally & March for May Day
http://bit.ly/May1TO)

www.mayworks.ca

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

7) Yinka Dene Alliance Freedom Train - Toronto Stop
Block the Pipelines: Stop the Tar Sands

http://www.facebook.com/events/163762043747293/

The Yinka Dene Alliance (YDA) is planning a massive Canada-wide action
against Enbridge leading up to its upcoming Annual Shareholders Meeting in
Toronto on Wednesday, May 9.

... JOIN US IN TORONTO

Rally, March & Water Ceremony
When: Wednesday May 9th - 11:45 am
David Pecaut Square- Toronto
(near King St. & John St., behind Metro Hall)

**closest subway station is St. Andrew Station. A mobility vehicle will be
made available for those that cannot walk the march route. For a spot in
the van or for any other accessibility concerns, please email:
natalie.caine at greenpeace.org**

More events will be announced for May 8th & 9th, please keep checking back
& see:http://yinkadene.ca/

To RSVP and to request info on free buses from outside Toronto, visit
here:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEV1cVRWUXk0TmpsamZ2a1ZjRkxveGc6MQ

The Yinka Dene Alliance is one of the leading groups of First Nations in
opposing the Enbridge Northern Gateway oil pipeline and super-tanker
project. We are six Dakelh (Carrier) and Tse Kay Nay (Sekani) Nations in
the interior of what is known as British Columbia, and we are where the
unbroken wall of opposition to Enbridge's dangerous tar sands pipeline
begins.

We are taking an historic journey – the Freedom Train – from our
territories to Toronto. We will make stops for rallies and ceremony in
Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg along the way, and will gain strength as
we travel across Turtle Island. Remembering the Constitution Train of
1980, we will be travelling from our lands to the Canadian centre of
financial power - Bay Street - to send the pipeline companies, oil
companies, banks, financial media and the government an unforgettable
message: tar sands pipelines and supertankers will not be permitted in our
lands and waters.

For more info about the Freedom Riders Train and the Yinka Dene Alliance
see:http://yinkadene.ca/

For more info on the Indigenous and allied movement Against Enbridge’s Tar
Sands Pipelines and Tankers, and the Tar Sands themselves, see:
http://yinkadene.ca/
http://pipeupagainstenbridge.ca/
http://www.ienearth.org/tarsands.html

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

8) Canadian Stage and Eventual Ashes present

Ocean Carving
A workshop presentation
Thurs, May 10 8:30-9:30pm
26 Berkeley St, Upstairs
FREE

Directed, Written, and Sound/Video Design by Gein Wong
Set Design by Jung-Hye Kim
Featuring:
Elena Juatco
Stephanie Jung

Nothing grows stronger than the instinctual desire to protect those you
love. Blending live erhu (Chinese violin) music, ambient electronic music,
video art projection, movement and theatre, Ocean Carving tells the story
of a Toronto woman who left China by jumping into the ocean and swimming
away.

Presented as part of the Festival of Ideas and Creation and developed as
part of the Canadian Stage’s BASH Directors Residency.

www.eventualashes.com
www.facebook.com/EventualAshes

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9) The Art, Science and Spirit of Decolonization Workshop by Zainab Amadahy
Saturday May 12th, 2012
1pm to 4pm
Steelworkers Hall - 25 Cecil Street

Free - Pre-registration required: email registration at mayworks.ca

This workshop explores how emerging science and the relational frameworks
found in the cultures of global Indigenous and other ancient wisdom
traditions promote well being and decolonization. This discussion will
differentiate wisdom teachings from New Age “spirituality” that embraces
the “Law of Attraction”, cultural appropriation and other activities that
mislead and even harm people. Participants will be encouraged to share
their experiences/teachings across cultures and arts practices. Together
we will come away with new and renewed strategies for community building,
decolonization and art-making.

Of African-American and Cherokee heritage, facilitator Zainab Amadahy is a
singer songwriter, author and activist. She has written and facilitated
extensively.

Pre-registration is required – sign up soon!

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

10) LAL Cd Release - LAL is a mushroom, a magical one
Friday May 18th
9pm to 2am
The Garrison - 1197 Dundas Street West

Cost: $10 (no one turned away) or $20 with CD

LAL is a band, but not only a band - we are a music making magical
mushroom, the visible flowering part of a much larger organism, connected
with very fine but infinitely resilient roots.

We are the flowering fruit of a complex network of microscopic filaments,
these roots also belonging to other firms and organizations: incisive and
relentless activists, ethical community based businesses or performance
companies..

We are one, huge, justice-hungry organism, a world-wide team of
individuals, groups, organizations, companies, firms, NGOs, businesses,
researchers, activists, philosophers and artists.

LAL is a mushroom, a magical one.

Come and celebrate our 4th recording entitled 'lal' with guest artists and
djs

Featuring:
hosted by Victoria Mata / Cherish Blood

lal www.lalforest.com

Mia Skye

Saye Sky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd6GCKjLtqU
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saye-Sky/183864503984

Matthew Maskaant http://matthewmaaskant.com/

R3 Collective http://www.facebook.com/r3artists

djs: Nik Red http://www.facebook.com/djnikred
Lover Son http://loversun.bandcamp.com/track/doubttt
more coming....

co-sponsors:
R3 Collective http://www.facebook.com/r3artists
OPIRG Toronto http://www.facebook.com/pages/Opirg-Toronto/295554667140158
Hotbox: http://hotboxcafe.ca/HotBoxHome.htm
Mayworks Festival: http://www.mayworks.ca/

Media sponsor: Rabble http://www.rabble.ca/

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

11) Toronto Stop the Cuts - Well the time has come to have FUN!!!!
Saturday May 19th
5pm to 1am
CUPE 4400 - 1482 Bathurst Street

For those of you lucky enough to stay in the city for the May long
weekend, do we have a FUN event for you!!!!!

Toronto Stop the Cuts will host its first ever social, meet other like
minded people event.

On Saturday May 19, 2012 join us for a movie (TBA), food, laughter, drinks
and funky music (good to dance to!!)

When: Saturday May 19, 2012
Time: Movie @ 5:00 p.m.
Party @ 7:00 p.m.
Where: CUPE 4400
1482 Bathurst Street (just north of St. Clair on Bathurs)
St. Clair West Subway station
4th Floor
Cost: PWYC - suggested donation $5
For sale: Beer - wine - rum mix = $5
Water - juice - pop = $1
Samosas - empanadas = $1 - $4

The aim is to have FUN, meet people and dance, dance, and dance.