CONTENTS

1. CALLS TO ACTION
2. EVENTS
3. ARTICLES
4. EMPLOYMENT

Safe Water for First Nations

To: Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau,

I call on you to fulfill the promise you made in 2015, that your government would put an end to all long-term drinking water advisories on First Nations reserves by March 2021.

In 2015, there were drinking water advisories in 126 First Nation communities. There are still advisories in 33 communities. Many are recurring, and some advisories have been in place for more than 20 years.

The lack of access to safe drinking water in First Nations is not only a violation of Indigenous people’s rights, but also a public health crisis. Health care officials have stated over and over again that washing your hands is a critically important step to manage the spread of COVID-19 — and access to clean water is essential for doing so safely. The pandemic is not an excuse to delay acting on this promise, the pandemic adds urgency to the need for swift action to fix this.

I urge the federal government to declare this public health crisis an emergency and to act immediately with provincial officials to rectify it. Any solution must recognize Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent and their right to self-determination.

canadians.org

Canada and the World /w Tyler Shipley

When: June 30 to August 25 (Wednesdays at 7:30pm)

Tyler Shipley is running a free, nine-week online course called “Canada in the World”, loosely following the structure of his book of the same title (which is naturally recommended but by no means necessary for your participation in the course). The first class is June 30, just in time to ruin Canada Day!

Anyone who would like to refresh or fill in some gaps in Canadian history is more than welcome to join. There are no assignments or grading, just a couple hours on Zoom every Wednesday evening.

June 30: Introduction and Historical Context
July 7: Canadian Colonialism
July 14: The ‘Birth’ of a Nation
July 21: Flirting with Fascism

For those interested, send an email to tyshipley@hotmail.com.

Accelerating Climate Change and E-Waste

When: July 8th, 1:15pm

Technology is an essential and valued aspect of our lives, yet it comes at a price. Even after a decade of commitment by technology companies, their products continue to consume unsustainable amounts of materials and natural resources, be a source of hazardous substances, contribute to climate change and add to the largest growing waste stream in the world, e-waste. While the technology sector is making strides to address the social impacts of their products, there continue to be sourcing from conflict zones, worker exposure to toxic substances during the manufacturer and assembly processes, and unacceptable labor and human rights behaviors throughout the supply chain.

register.gotowebinar.com

What’s It Like to Live in a Housing Co-op?

When: July 8th, 7:30pm

Join the Parkdale Free School and More Co-operative Housing Collective to find out all about life in a housing co-op. Four residents of different Toronto co-ops will open up about their experiences, the benefits of the democratic, co-operative approach to housing, and the different ways that it can work in the day-to-day.

eventbrite.com

Omar Barghouti In Conversation with Peter Beinart

When: Friday July 9th, 12pm

Jewish Currents editor at large Peter Beinart talks with Omar Barghouti, an independent Palestinian researcher, commentator and human rights activist.

eventbrite.com

Save Silwan – Free Palestine

When: July 11th, 3pm
Where: Nathan Philips Square

The settler-colonial state of Israel continues its encroachment against our rights and our homeland with Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes in Silwan, the constant bombardment of Gaza, the lynching of Palestinians, and the ongoing attempts to ethnically cleanse Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Beita, Gaza, and Sbeih mountain.

With Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes in Silwan, the constant bombardment of Gaza, the lynching of Palestinians, and the ongoing attempts to ethnically cleanse Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Beita, Gaza, and Sbeih mountain. Our voices need to be louder than ever to ensure that we show support for the Palestinian national liberation struggle and that we pressure the Canadian government to impose an arms embargo on the state of Israel for its crimes against Palestinians.

Facebook event

Virtual Yidstock 2021

When: Sunday July 11th, 4pm

Featuring Songs of Social Justice.

This year’s virtual YIDSTOCK: The Festival of New Yiddish Music features a dozen artists from around the globe performing Yiddish songs of social justice. They perform a broad and eclectic repertoire of social justice songs, including labor anthems, protest songs, humanitarian odes, songs of struggle, and songs based in Yiddish poetry and Jewish scripture.

yiddishbookcenter.org

Food + Land + Climate

When: July 12th, 7pm

Part 2 of the 3-part series – How the Food System Affects Climate and How the Climate Affects the Food System

The Economics, Science and Art of Regenerative Agriculture

Speakers include:
– Mary Delaney- Land Over Landings
– Rachel Parent- Kids Right To Know
– Allie Rougeot (MC), Fridays for Future Toronto

eventbrite.ca

Book Launch: The Water Defenders

When: July 13th, 7pm

On the 12th anniversary of the assassination of Salvadoran water defender Marcelo Rivera, join activists from Canada, the United States, and El Salvador in a webinar discussion on lessons from North American activists and organizations’ decade-long solidarity relationship with Salvadoran water defenders for international solidarity work going forward. The conversation will draw on the rich history of Canadian solidarity with social movements in El Salvador.

zoom.us

Protest Ford

When: July 14th, 12pm
Where: 1955 Valley Rd., Pickering

The residents and families of Orchard Villa have suffered enough. The for-profit chain Southbridge owns this long-term care home where 71 residents died of COVID-19 and others died of dehydration, starvation, and horrific neglect. There has been NO accountability for the corporate owners, whose LTC homes have the worst death rate in Ontario, and now Doug Ford has given preliminary approval for not only a new license for 30-years, but also, an expansion!

We intend to STOP Doug Ford’s plan to reward the worst for-profit LTC corporations with another generation of beds and licenses and insist that long-term care be operated in the public interest on a non-profit basis.

ontariohealthcoalition.ca

Start Early, Stay Late: Planning for Care /w Pat and Hugh Armstrong

The lines between for-profit and not have become increasingly blurred by various neoliberal strategies. One of these involves non-profit and state-owned homes contracting out services to for-profit firms as – in denial of the literature on the determinants of health – services such as food, housekeeping, and laundry have been defined out of care and dismissed as ancillary. Barely enough services pre-pandemic have proven to be not nearly enough during the pandemic – which has exposed the disastrous life-altering or lethal consequences of all these developments for those elderly requiring care.

Source: LeftStreamed

Palestine /w Niko Block (part 2)

This episode is part two of our interview with writer, activist, academic, and friend of the pod, Niko Block about Palestine and Israeli Apartheid. This time we discuss how to refocus and revitalize the BDS movement in Canada and the United States, contemporary debates surrounding the Israel Lobby, and the weaponization of spurious accusation of anti-Semitism against Palestinian solidarity.

Source: The Scarlet Standard Episode No. 16

Laurentian University Insolvency

By David Leadbeater

On February 1, Laurentian University’s President and Board got what they wanted from Ontario Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz: “This Court orders and declares that the Applicant [Laurentian] is insolvent and is a company to which the CCAA applies.” The Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) is federal corporate bankruptcy legislation dating from 1933. For the first time in Canadian history, the CCAA was applied to one of Canada’s public universities.

Source: The Bullet No. 2410

The National Strike in Colombia: A Trade Union Perspective

By Daniel Hawkins

For the past month and a half, Colombia has been gripped by social and political upheaval on a level unparalleled in the past half century. On 28 April, a national strike began that surged across the roads and avenues of more than 600 cities around the country, an unexpected but welcome surprise for the leaders of the strike committee and one that caught the national government entirely unprepared for the scale of the strike and its enormous popular support.

Source: The Bullet No. 2411

Glasgow COP26 and Beyond

By Patrick Bond

The Paris Climate Agreement and subsequent United Nations follow-up conferences have not taken seriously the ecological crisis now unfolding. Not only does prominent scientist James Hansen describe its tokenistic measures in scathing terms (“bullshit”), but those seeking climate justice have long despaired of multilateral climate policy making dominated by imperial and sub-imperial elite negotiators from high-emitting economies.

Source: The Bullet No. 2412

Decent Work and Health Organizer

The Decent Work and Health Network (DWHN) is a group of health workers organizing for improved working conditions as a means to improve individual and community health. Currently, we are advancing a campaign to win legislated paid sick days for all workers, as well as expose precarious work as a health hazard in the context of a global pandemic.

The Decent Work and Health Organizer will support and advance our public campaign for decent work as a health issue, with a focus on paid sick days. This will include outreach to health workers and facilitating their participation in the campaign; planning and facilitating meetings, events, and workshops; and developing written content from blog posts and newsletters to reports and submissions. The Organizer will also support the development of messaging and implementation of media and social media plans. This position works directly with the DWHN Coordinator.

This position would usually work full-time out of our office at 720 Spadina Avenue in Toronto, which is a collaborative and inclusive shared space with other decent work organizations, including the Workers’ Action Centre and Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team has been primarily working remotely. Protocols are now in place to ensure safe use of our office for some functions of our work, and we are in the office as appropriate and in line with public health advice.

Start date: September 1, 2021 or as determined with the successful candidate
Salary range: $49,571 to $61,571 based on prior experience

decentworkandhealth.org