[van-announce] Community Events Digest

Fri Oct 22 14:29:15 PDT 2010

COMMUNITY EVENTS DIGEST 

== Social justice events happening on and off campus == 

*** Events at SFU Burnaby *** 

1) SFSS By-Election All-Candidates Debates (Oct 25 & 27) 

2) SFU Health and Wellness Festival (Oct 27) 

3) Sexual Confidence & Connections Discussion Group, Out On Campus (Oct 27) 

4) Hallo-Queen! Rocky Horror Picture Sing-Along! (Oct 28) 

5) ACHSA Presents Dream Weaver Halloween Party (Oct 29) 

***Events Off The Hill*** 

6) Two Months Too Many: Release Detained Tamil Refugees Demonstration (Oct 23) 

7) Beehive Collective in East Van (Oct 24) 

8) Public forum about Goldcorp, corporate education, and DTES gentrification: "Hey Goldcorp, we don't want your dirty gold!" (Oct 25) 

9) Take a lunch break for Wild Salmon (Oct 25) 

10) Pacific Institute For Climate Solutions Free Public Lecture (Oct 27) 

11) Open House and the launch of the Preventing Violence by Protecting Rights Project (Oct 30) 

12) Israel-Palestine: Past, Present and Future (Oct 30) 

13) Rally For Frank Paul & Indigenous People Who Died In Custody (Nov 1) 

14) Media Democracy Day Vancouver 2010 (Nov 6) 

**compiled by SFPIRG, SFU's student-based social justice resource centre. http://www.sfpirg.ca. To have your event included in the next digest, send a text-based email announcement to sfpirg (at) sfu.ca.** 

*** Events at SFU Burnaby *** 

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SFSS BY-ELECTION ALL-CANDIDATES DEBATES 

SURREY: Monday, October 25th at 3:30pm in the Mezzanine. 

BURNABY: Wednesday, October 27th at 3:30pm in the Maggie Benston Centre Atrium Cafeteria . 

23 students have come forward to become candidates in the fall by-election! 

The all-candidates debates will be held next week and you are welcome to attend to meet the candidates and ask questions. 

For more information, please visit http://elections.sfss.ca/ 

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SFU HEALTH AND WELLNESS FESTIVAL 

Wed October 27, 11:00am - 3:00pm 

North AQ, SFU Burnaby 

Whether you are a student, staff or faculty member here at SFU juggling your career, school, family, friends and play can be a challenge. Visit the Health and Wellness Festival to RELAX with a free massage, NOURISH with free snacks and to find your BALANCE. 

http://students.sfu.ca/health/events.html 

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SEXUAL CONFIDENCE & CONNECTIONS DISCUSSION GROUP 

Wednesday, October 27th, from 4:30-6pm . 

Our On Campus lounge, The Rotunda 

Come to the to chat about confidence in one's own sexuality and the connection that is possible between two people. Want to share your confidence tips? Had a strong connection you want to share? We want to hear it! 

http://www.sfu.ca/out-on-campus/ 

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HALLO-QUEEN! ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SING-ALONG!!! 

Thursday, October 28th, starting at 7pm 

Saywell Hall 10041, SFU Burnaby 

Get juiced up to do the time warp again! Out on Campus is screening the Rocky Horror Picture Show, right in time for Hallo-Queen! Dress up as your favorite horror, and prepare for a smashing sing along! 

http://www.sfu.ca/out-on-campus/ 

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ACHSA PRESENTS DREAM WEAVER HALLOWEEN PARTY 

Friday, October 29, 2010 

Doors open - 9pm 

The Highland Pub @ SFU 

Tickets: $8 presold; $10 at the door 

Door prizes, drink specials, Prize for the BEST COSTUME!!! 

Dress as something/someone from your WORST nightmare or your WILDEST fantasy/dream. 

Tickets on sale now at The Highland Pub, ACHSA club room in the Rotunda (room TC317) and at the club table in the AQ on Oct. 25, 27-29 

Visit our page at http://blogs.sfu.ca/groups/achsa/?page_id=21 

***Events Off The Hill*** 

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TWO MONTHS TOO MANY! RELEASE DETAINED TAMIL REFUGEES DEMO 

Weekly Noise Demos: 

Release Detained Tamil Refugees: Let Them Free, Let Them Stay! 

Saturday Oct 23 at 1:30 pm 

Shuttles Leaving Edmonds station starting at 12:45 until 1:15 

For the past seven weeks, we have gathered in front of the Burnaby Youth Custody prison where approximately 90 Tamil refugee mothers and children are being incarcerated. Supporters bang on pots and pans and blew whistles and horns to the beats of Tamil music. A large Tamil banner reading, “We welcome you, we support you” is held towards the two detention units where children can be seen waving and smiling, peering through prison bars. (For photos, see here http://www.flickr.com/photos/nooneisillegal/ ) 

Join No One is Illegal-Vancouver at the Burnaby detention facility to continue to express our love, support, and solidarity with those still being held inside and to call for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers. 

Bring noise! We want to be visible and be heard from inside so please bring pots, pans, horns, drums, noisemakers (please be aware of noises which may be triggering or traumatizing) 

TRANSPORT: 

Meet at Edmonds station for rides at 12:45. Last shuttle leaves at 1:15pm. If you have a vehicle and can offer carpool, please contact us at noii-van at resist.ca or 778 885 0040. 

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BEEHIVE COLLECTIVE IN EAST VAN! 

Sunday, October 24th at 7:00pm 

Spartacus books: 684 E. Hastings 

Art & Anarchy and CIPO-Vancouver (Comuna of the Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca ) invite you to join the Beehive Collective for a visual workshop on "The True Cost of Coal" 

Using a gigantic, portable mural teeming with intricate images of plants and animals, the Bees will walk participants through the connections between mountain top removal coal mining, coal-fired electricity and climate change. Using storytelling, small and full group discussions, we'll examine the local to global impacts of our industrialized way of life, drawing out connections to our participants' daily lives. Together we will analyze real costs, root causes, and what deep change can and does actually look like! 

This workshop raises questions about resistance, regeneration, and remediation while celebrating stories of struggle from impacted communities. The TRUE COST OF COAL will challenge all of us who casually flip on a light switch to examine our own connections to this newest, most destructive form of coal mining—and to think about what we can do to stop it from within our own communities. 

You can view the "True Cost of Coal" graphic and find more project info at: 

http://www.beehivecollective.org/english/coal.htm 

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PUBLIC FORUM ABOUT GOLDCORP, CORPORATE EDUCATION, AND DTES GENTRIFICATION 

"Hey Goldcorp, We don't want your dirty gold!" 

Monday October 25, 7pm 

SFU Harbour Centre, Room 7000 (7th Floor) 

Speakers to include : Dawn Paley, independent journalist; Wendy Pedersen from Carnegie Community Action Project; Myka Abrambson from the SFU Teaching Support Staff Union; and more. 

A public forum and discussion about the corporatization of the university, the gentrification of the DTES, and the human and environmental crimes of the Vancouver mining giant, Goldcorp. 

In September the office of the SFU president announced, that Canadian mining giant Goldcorp has donated $10million to the Woodwards based SFU branch… which has been rebranded “The Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.” 

A notorious environmental, human rights, and colonial criminal company, Goldcorp is facing federal criminal charges in Honduras and have been involved in legal battles in Argentina and Guatemala. The Inter-American Commission for Human Rights recommended that a Goldcorp mine in Guatemala be shut down because of widespread destruction and contamination of land and water affecting territories of at least 18 communities of the Maya people. 

Goldcorp claims that they considered the welfare of the “depressed” Downtown Eastside and think they can be part of creating a “more sustainable future” there. But according to the Carnegie Community Action Project, the Woodwards project has had an immediate ripple effect of massive rent increases and gentrification. No one, not SFU’s senior administration and certainly not Goldcorp ever asked if the mining corporation was welcome in the community, or at our school. Despite the rhetoric, the Goldcorp Arts Centre project is clearly something the University is doing to the neighbourhood, not with it. 

For more info: 

http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/blog/dawn/4695 

http://www.straight.com/article-349701/vancouver/sfu-under-fire-accepting-10-million-goldcorp 

"SFU should reject all donations from human rights abusers" 

http://www.the-peak.ca/article/21909 

Organized by SFU Against Goldcorp and Gentrification (SAGG) 

antigoldcorp at gmail.com 

http://nogoldcorpsfu.wordpress.com/ 
Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111742242221650 

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TAKE A LUNCH BREAK FOR WILD SALMON 

Monday October 25th, noon 

Vancouver Art Gallery 

Join us from 12-1 at the Vancouver Art Gallery to make it clear that we support Justice Cohen in his difficult pursuit of truth – what is going on with our sockeye – and let the Cohen Inquiry know we are all watching. 

Visit the www.wildernesscommittee.org for more details. 

Wild salmon need our help. Over the last ten years productivity rates on the major Fraser River Sockeye run is down. Salmon runs from all over the province have been impacted by dams on rivers, warming oceans, pollution, clear-cuts, and habitat alterations- everything we do impacts wild salmon. Above all else, it is clear that factory fish farms are having an impact on them. These issues are as complex and as interconnected as the ecosystems that depend on wild salmon. From orcas to grizzly bears to old growth forests - so much of the stunning beauty this province has to offer depends on wild salmon to feed it. Where wild salmon suffer, we all suffer. 

At 10am on October 25th, walk with First Nation Leaders, fishermen, politicians, and Wild Salmon People from Vanier Park to the Cohen Commission at 701 West Georgia, and then on to the Vancouver Art Gallery for 12noon. 

You can also follow this weeks Paddle for Wild Salmon down the Fraser River with Alexandra Morton at: 

http://salmonaresacred.org/itinerary-paddle 

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PACIFIC INSTITUTE FOR CLIMATE SOLUTIONS FREE PUBLIC LECTURE 

Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 7pm - 9pm 

Segal Centre Rooms, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver 

Free 

Dr. John Clague and Dr. Hadi Dowlatabadi will speak at a new, free Public Lecture Series presented by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS), in collaboration with SFU and UBC. The second in the series, this lecture will explore our Threatening Seas , including an overview of sea-level rise, coastal flooding and erosion. 

Free registration for this event is encouraged, but not required—register online at www.picspubliclecture.eventbrite.com . 

Dr. Clague of SFU will present “Our coasts at risk: Sea-level rise in a warming world.” Dr. Dowlatabadi of UBC will follow with the curiously titled presentation: “‘The time has come,’ the walrus said, ‘to talk of coastal things.’” 

Live Web Stream: www.pics.uvic.ca/events.php 

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OPEN HOUSE AND THE LAUNCH OF THE PREVENTING VIOLENCE BY PROTECTING RIGHTS (PVPR) PROJECT 

Saturday, October 30th, 2010 from 12 pm to 4 pm. 

Suite 309—877 E. Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 3Y1 

Join us for a light lunch, an insightful talk on the rights of sex workers, learn about SWAN’s outreach work with indoors sex workers in Greater Vancouver, networking. Meet members of SWAN Feminist Collective, our outreach volunteers and friends from organizations united in preventing violence against women. 

Program: 

• 12 noon to 4 pm: networking, light lunch 

• 1 pm: Welcoming from SWAN Collective 

• 1:15 pm: Talk from guest speaker --- Jenny Kwan, MLA, on violence against sex workers 

• 2 pm: About the Preventing Violence by Protecting Rights Project 

• 3 pm: SWAN approach to outreach 

PVPR Project objectives: 

• Increase the health, safety and economic security of immigrant and migrant women engaged in indoor sex work in the Lower Mainland in BC by increasing their access to social services; 

• Ensure that the rights of women in sex work are respected in their interactions with law enforcement officials and health and social service providers. 

PVPR is a project funded by Status of Women Canada. 

To view your invitation (in PDF format) to the Open House and the launch of the Preventing Violence by Protecting Rights (PVPR) project, click here or copy this link and past it to your web browser. https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B4H_ZYtDzv2UY2NiOGI5MmEtYWI1Yy00Yzc4LWJmNjItOTlhY2ExZDBhMzNi&hl=en&pli=1 

Presented by Supporting Women's Alternatives Network (SWAN Vancouver Society) 

No reservation is required but space is limited. For more information, please call SWAN Coordinator. 

Tel: 604.719.6343 

Email: info at swanvancouver.ca 

www.swanvancouver.ca 

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ISRAEL-PALESTINE: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 

Saturday, October 30th at 7:30 pm 

Hebb Theatre at the University of British Columbia 

Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for non-students. 

Speaker: Dr. Norman Finkelstein 

Finkelstein was awarded his doctorate by Princeton University in 1988, and has subsequently taught at Rutgers, New York University, Brooklyn College, Hunter College and DePaul University (Chicago). His academic research has concentrated on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its representation in political discourse. He has devoted much of his adult life to the achievement of a just peace between Israel and Palestine. 

Where to get tickets? 

Seating is very limited; so try to get your tickets as soon as possible from: 

** The Outpost inside the SUB (the little store facing the bagel place) 

** SPHR Tables: Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM in the Student Union Building - Main Concourse. 

** The Coop Bookstore on Commercial Street. For more information call: (604) 253-6442 

** Online: 

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F 

Organized by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, UBC 

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RALLY FOR FRANK PAUL & INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WHO DIED IN CUSTODY 

November 1st, 2010, 4:00 pm-5:30 pm 

Supreme Court Building, 

701 West Georgia Street. 

Harvey Jack, Richard Alfred Mountain, Victor George, Frank G, Bell, Benjamin Dickson, Adeline Wilson, Stanley George Paul, Anthany James Dawson, Shelly Etzerza, Gerald Shuter, Dallas Leighton, Paul Alphonse, Richard William Allen, Francis Joseph Mark, Peter Benoit Prince, Matthew Dumas, Darrell Paquette, Clayton Alfred Wiley, Lorraine Jacobson, Adam Wayne Beadle, Joey Peters, Frank Watts, Fred Quilt, Irvin Stump, Thomas Prince, Howard Fleury, Harley Clayton, Geronimo Forbister, Corinne Jacobs & son, Neil Stonechild, Lloyd Dustyhorn, Rodney Naistus, Lawrence Wegner, Gerald Chenery, Darrell Night, Dennis St. Paul, Darwin Robert Campbell, JJ Harper, Floyd Head, Jason Daniels, Patrick Dan De La Ronde, Dudley George, Ramsey Whitefish, Kyle Tait, Michael Langan, Clarence George Jack, Rocky Allan Pearson, Joanne Leah Totus, Harold Joseph Prince, Sylvester Thomas Plasway, Darrel Steve Wilson, Christopher Stephen Bell, Kevin Jason Skin, Randy Monk, Robert Satiacum, Victor Michael Vincent George, Darrell Horace Yeltatzie, Russell John Abraham, Martin Russell Mather, Larry Horace Jack, James Edward Gray, Eddie Munro Basil, Donald Joseph Rossetti, Eliza Wokely, Mark Ned Francis, George David Patterson, Lorraine Moon, Merle Albert Nicholas, Adrienne Claudette Bos, Frank Joseph Paul... 

These are only some of the known Aboriginal Indigenous men and women who have died during arrest, or in custody. B.C. has the highest death rate by police in Canada. There are also many unreported beatings and assaults by police and RCMP on innocent, intoxicated or disabled First Nations people over the past many decades. 

“A report in the Vancouver Courier, (03/02/03) which stated that the B.C. Coroner’s Service, show 60 percent of all First Nation’s deaths while incarcerated in the past decade occurred in police custody. For the Non-Aboriginal population, the figure is 25 percent. 

During the last decade, when First Nations person died in custody, the Coroner ruled that the cause of death was ‘undetermined’ in 20 percent of the cases. The undetermined rate for the non-First Nations inmate population was eight percent. Accidents were ruled the cause of death in 40 percent of the First Nations cases but only 28 percent for non-First Nations. February 03, 2003. (3)” 

Our people should not fear those who are paid to serve and protect. It is because of these deaths, the on-going cover ups and the historical and current prejudiced handling of Indigenous people, during arrest, or while in custody, a public rally is being held November 1, in downtown Vancouver. 

We will remember Frank Paul whose inquiry resumes November 3, 2010. We will recognize the many Indigenous men who have died while in custody within the Canadian prison and jail system; as well as men who have died after being tasered or shot or beaten by police, during arrest, many whose deaths were investigated by inquiry, many without recourse. Clayton Willey, for example, died after being Tasered and subdued by RCMP officers, August 1994. Joe Peters of Alert Bay died being shot in the head by RCMP, 

”As pieced together from the police video by the 2004 Ryneveld report, a "motionless" Paul was dragged into the jail elevator at 8:25 p.m. on December 5, 1998. His condition was seen by a number of individuals, including the sergeant on duty, who determined that Paul wasn't intoxicated. Five minutes later, at 8:30 p.m., a police wagon driver and a provincial jail guard dragged "a still rain-soaked, motionless Frank Paul from the elevator to the police wagon along the floor of the wagon bay area". ( frankpaulinquiry.ca ) 

The paddy wagon driver that evening was Constable Instant. He delivered a couple of men to the Vancouver Detox the evening of December 5, 2998. On the stand the detox staffer testified he asked driver Constable Instant, “What about the other guy?” Constable Instant simply stated, “No, he stays with me.” Frank’s body was found the next morning, December 6, 1998 at 2:41 a.m., a few feet away from the detox centre. 

INQUIRY RESUMES NOVEMBER 3, 2010 : The names of the former prosecutors who fought against testifying regarding Frank’s death: Attorney General Wally Oppal’s assistant, deputy attorney general in charge of the Criminal Justice Branch- Robert Gillan ; Current B.C. Supreme Court justice Austin Cullin ; and provincial court Judge Michael Hicks . The system hired the best lawyers in all the land, to try to protect them from testifying. What a huge victory for Frank’s family and our people. 

Frank’s cousin Peggy Clement said that Frank traveled the continent, and settled here in Vancouver, ending up homeless, suffering extreme physical disabilities and that he was also a residential school survivor. 

Taking action & using our voices, standing beside Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs; young leader David Dennis; the Métis Association of BC; Lawyers Cameron Ward, Steve Kelliher, David Eby & more.. does make a difference. It's not over yet, let's keep moving forward. There is strength in numbers. 

Stand with us Monday, November 1 at 4:00 pm, in front of the Supreme Court Building, 701 West Georgia to call societies attention to the upcoming continuation of the hard fought Frank Paul inquest which resumes November 3 and 4 th , 2010. Hychka to the Buffalo Spirit drum group for accepting the invite to share medicine songs. Bring your drums, your regalia! (Kat) indigenousactionmovement at gmail.com 

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MEDIA DEMOCRACY DAY VANCOUVER 2010 

Saturday November 6th 2010, 12- 5pm 

Vancouver Public Library, Central Library 

Media Democracy Day is an annual event that engages activists, media producers, scholars and citizens in dialogue that is centered on creating a more participatory and democratic media system. Entering its ninth year, MDD provides a day of interactive discussion panels that address key issues concerning the politics and biases linked to our increasingly corporate and concentrated media system. 

Tony Burman of Al Jazeera English will open the day with a keynote address. Panel discussions include assessing the role of alternative media in environmental communication in an age of corporate greenwash; the rise of “Fox News North” and what it means for Canadian broadcasting; the portrayal of protest and negotiation at global marquee events like the G20 summit; representations of sexual and gendered violence in media; and a close look at the shifting landscape of Canadian copyright. 

The Media Democracy Fair will also be open throughout the day to provide a trade-show style exhibition of the local media community. And The Pacific Cinematheque will be hosting a small film production workshop in the spirit of documentary and journalistic cinema. 

For more info: http://www.mediademocracyday.org/ 

Cost: Free & all welcome but seating is limited. To pre-register your attendance, visit http://mddvancouver.eventbrite.com/ 

MDD on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MDDVancouver?ref=ts 

MDD on Twitter http://twitter.com/MediaDemocDay 