KWPeace Potluck Meeting for December 2019

Date

Saturday, 14 December 2019 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Location

Civic Hub Waterloo Region, 23 Water Street North, Kitchener, Ontario Map

The potluck spread was wonderful! We set up the spread, filled our plates, and sat 'round the table to introduces ourselves. Then each person gave updates about their organizations:

Bob Jonkman

Fair Vote Waterloo, WR Nonviolence, WR Greens (but not active recently)

Fair Vote Waterloo

• Fair Vote Canada is advocating for a Citizens' Assembly to determine the best voting system for Canada.
  • Fair Vote Waterloo is sending delegations to local MPs to get support for a Citizens' Assembly.
  • There were plans for a door-knocking campaign to get people's support for a Citizens' Assembly.

WR Nonviolence

• Upcoming plans: Viewpoints: Life In The Margins forums.
• The Viewpoints forums invite up to four panelists: A policy maker, an academic, a person working in the field, and someone with lived experience.
  • Viewpoints on Incarceration, possibly Tuesday 11 February 2020 at Queen Street Commons Cafe.
    • Hope to invite Senator Kim Pate as the "policy maker" panelist; WRN has been asked about reimbursing travel and accomodation costs.
    • If expected attendance exceeds the capacity of QSC then it is possible CIGI may partner and offer their auditorium.
  • Viewpoints on Refugees planned for April 2020.

• Day In The Park will likely be Saturday, 18 July 2020; registrations for exhibitors and vendors will open in the spring.
  • Bob spoke about the difficulty in navigating the City of Kitchener's event registration process, applying for the City's grant (to defer rental costs), and the possibility that WR Nonviolence may not have the use of the City's tables and canopies (the only fundraiser for WR Nonviolence).
  • Social Development Centre WR has some canopies that might be available!
  • City of Kitchener does not have "Nonviolence" as one of their mandates, which determines which groups will receive support.

• Usury-Free Day is the second week in November; WR Nonviolence will hold a Financial Forum.

CKMS-FM 102.7 Radio Waterloo

• Not a KWPeace group, but Bob is hosting a radio show CKMS Community Connections and invites members of local social justice and environmental groups to come in for an interview.
• The radio station is community owned and operated, and funded by members and programmers.
  • Yearly membership is $25 for individuals: https://radiowaterloo.ca/join
  • Members can host their own radio show at $30/month for a one hour/week: https://radiowaterloo.ca/how-to/start-a-new-show/
  • Some groups were interested in hosting their own show.
  • Shows can be recorded and made into podcasts.

Tamara Lorincz

Canadian Voices of Women for Peace

• Canada's military spending has increased since 2018 from $28 billion/year to $32 billion/year
  • (the Military is one of the largest emitters of Green House Gases, but those emissions are exempt from reductions under the Paris Accord)
• A sole (non-competitive) contract was awarded to General Dynamics in London, Ontario, for $2 billion.
  • This is equivalent to all the subsidies given to the fossil fuel industry.
  • Contract to build "light" armoured vehicles, to be sold to Saudi Arabia, which uses them in the war in Yemen, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.
• The Speech from the Throne highlighted the Liberals' promise to act on Climate Change, but the government's actions show the opposite:
  • Government officials attended the NATO meeting in London, UK, snubbing the climate delegation at COP25.
• This year marks the 70th anniversary of NATO. Tamara has been protesting regularly at the offices of the NATO Association of Canada in Toronto.
• Protesting arms sales by Lockheed-Martin and General Dynamics to Saudi Arabia.

Balsillie School of International Affairs

• Monday, 20 January 2020 is Martin Luther King Day: Tamara will be showing "Call to Conscience"
• Tuesday, 21 January 2010: Cinema Series: "Anthropocene: The Human Epoch"

Peace Conference in Ottawa

• 27 - 28 May 2020: Protests to shut down the CANSEC Arms Conference
• 29 - 30 May 2020: Peace Conference

• Several people were interested in attending (Conscience Canada will have an info booth), car pooling can be arranged.

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In 2018 Tamara Lorincz was the guest speaker at the KWPeace conference Perspectives On Peace:Where's the Peace and Justice?, available on YouTube:

Morgan Mastrovich and Simon Daley

Climate Justice WR, Climate Strike WR, Our Time KW, WR Greens

Climate Justice WR

• MP Peter Julian (NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby) has launched motion "M-1, Green New Deal".
• Climate Justice WR is gathering signatures to present to local MPs to support M-1.
• Climate Justice has delivered mandate letters to MPs to publicly accept the Green New Deal, and co-operate across party lines.
• MP Raj Saini (Liberal, Kitchener Centre) was not receptive.
• The Hon. Bardish Chagger (Liberal, Waterloo) will be approached soon.
• There was much discussion on the Liberal governments rhetoric on pipelines: capacity, safety, good for the environment (largely untrue, not science-based).

Climate Strike WR

• A Climate Strike was held in Waterloo on Friday, 13 December 2020. Estimates were up to 100 people. Video and photos have been uploaded to Archive.org, will be posted on Climate Strike WR website.
  • ClimateStrikeWR, Friday 13 December 2019
  • Occupy COP25 Waterloo

Our Time KW

• Working on M-1 engagement letter.
• Contacting other groups related to Climate Justice.

Mo Markham

Extinction Rebellion, KW Climate Save, KW Animal Save, KW Vegfest, WR Greens, Fair Vote Waterloo

Climate Save KW

• Working with school boards to declare a Climate Emergency

Vegfest

• Vegfest will be on Saturday, July 4th from 11am to 5pm, on King Street from City Hall to Queen Street.
• There will be film screenings at the Civic Hub!

• There are 14 "Good Food Cities", eg. Toronto.
• Universities are asked to take the "Cool Food Pledge" (foods and food preparation that minimize climate change).

(Bob found this online: https://www.alternativesjournal.ca/extinction-rebellion-waterloo-strike )

Sue Klassen

Sterling Avenue Mennonite Church Peace and Justice Working Group, Alternatives to Violence Project/Alternative Vision for Peace

• Nothing to report this time.

Laura Hamilton

Divest Waterloo, Food Not Bombs, Faith and the Common Good, Climate Justice WR, Rise Waterloo Region, Transition KW

• The Water Walk will take place on Saturday, 13 June 2020.
• Gehan Sabry (who runs the Kitchener event for the UN Day For The Elimination Of Racial Discrimination) owns the business Sphinx Graphics, and has been defrauded by a customer. To make financial ends meet, she asks if any groups who need printing (flyers, programs, menus, &c) can pre-order their printing needs, preferably before 31 December 2019. There some danger of the business closing due to the losses from the fraud.

Climate Justice WR

• Trying to identify other groups to partner with, specifically people from the BIPOC community (Black, Indigenous, People Of Colour).

Divest Waterloo

• Partnering with the Public Health department of Waterloo Region for a forum on Lyme Disease (made more prevalent by the warming from climate change). A concert is planned; Avril Lavigne, who has Lyme Disease, will be asked to perform.

• Divest Waterloo is planning house concerts to celebrate and educate on Kumaajin (sp?), the idea that all things (animal, plant, mineral) have spirit.

• Laura Hamilton has applied for funding for Mamaway to be held at the Amish Friendship House, with concerts!

• Faith Food Forest -- working with faith groups to plant foot forests (berries, vegetables). Create "vedges", vegetable hedges.
  • Eight different faith groups are involved, planting eight different vedges in different locations.

Co-op Community Kitchen

• Classes are open to all.
  • Cooking for Climate Change, study (?)
  • Feeding students -- ensure students have food security. This will take place at Wilfrid Laurier University, but is open to all.

Transition KW

• Climate Adaptation Toolkit is available.
  • Workshops for Neighbourhood Associations.

Extinction Rebellion

• Now has regular Wednesday meetings every two weeks!

Ellen Papenburg

Candidate for the Animal Protection Party of Canada, Council of Canadians KW Chapter, Fair Vote Waterloo, Funeral Advisory and Memorial Society of Southern Ontario, KW Royal Astronomical Society

FAMS

• Saturday, 2 May 2020 is the Annual General Meeting of FAMS in Hamilton, Ontario
  • There will be forums, panel discussions, speakers.
  • The AGM is open to the public.
  • There may be a local (KW) event (?)

KW RASC

(not necessarily a KWPeace organization)

• Light pollution in the city is worse than ever; LED lights are cheap to run, so the brightest ones are installed.
  • This is harmful to wildlife, and people's circadian rhythms, so may be of interest to environmental groups.
• Because of climate change, it is more cloudy than it used to be (bad for seeing).
• Observers are seeing smoke from the BC forest fires here in Ontario! (probably also of interest to climate action groups).

Dwyer Sullivan

Educators For Justice, Conscience Canada, Truth Café

Truth Café

• Truth Café has been holding meetings to discuss human rights in Palestine.
  • (there are several other KWPeace groups concerned with human rights in Palestine as well, eg. Christian Peacemaker Teams)

Aleksandra Petrovic

Social Development Centre Waterloo Region, Civic Hub WR

Social Development Centre

• Hosting space and providing resources to Experienced Groups: RENT (Renters Educating & Networking Together), AAP (Alliance Against Poverty)
  • Working on a plan to address the housing crisis.
  • Alleviate the overflow of shelters.
  • Extend-A-Family, other agencies (?) report a 20-year wait for affordable, accessible housing.
  • We need allies from the general population!

• What is happening with the Charles Street bus terminal property?
  • Mostly (90%?) owned by the Region of Waterloo, which is responsible for Housing.
  • But the City of Kitchener (responsible for Economic Development) has been tasked with finding the best use of the property.
  • Non-Profit organizations are not interested in acquiring the property -- there is too much site contamination (leakage from buses), making it too expensive to remediate for Non-Profits.
  • Looking to require Inclusionary Zoning on that property -- make 30% of the development affordable housing (80% below market average).

Civic Hub WR

• In partnership with St. John the Evangelist, the space for Civic Hub is getting some repairs and a fresh coat of paint.
• What is the payment status for groups using the facility?
  • Groups are asked to contribute $10/month
  • But we're OK for 2020 thanks to the grant received.
  • Still, think of the future, best for those who can afford it to continue contributions.

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Also at the meeting were:

• Jim Sannes (Unitarian Universalist Animal Ministry, Climate Healers (with Sailesh Rao), Grand River Unitarian Congregation Social Action Committee)
• Ray Gormley (Divest Waterloo, Extinction Rebellion, Faith and the Common Good, &c.)

Meeting notes taken by Bob Jonkman