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[OPIRG-EVENTS] People- & Planet-Friendly Events - special (2000/11/12)
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PEOPLE- & PLANET-FRIENDLY EVENTS & RESOURCES
Revised Sun. Nov. 12, 2000
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Here are upcoming SUSTAINABLE LIVING, ENVIRONMENTAL
& SOCIAL JUSTICE EVENTS, workshops, courses, festivals,
films, broadcasts, resources & jobs in Ontario & beyond.
PLEASE PASS THIS ON or post at your office or neighbourhood!
For a FREE e-mail subscription, e-mail to subscribe@planetfriendly.net
or use the online form at http://www.web.ca/~ppf/subscribe.html
*** CONTENTS ***
(A) Events, films, broadcasts, courses (corrections & additions only)
(B) MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN ONTARIO: MONDAY
(C) WHY BOTHER??
(D) About the People- & Planet-Friendly
SUBMIT LISTINGS TO: http://www.web.ca/~ppf/submit.html
(alternate http://members.aol.com/icontario/submit.htm )
See also: http://www.web.ca/~ppf/promote.html
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(A) EVENTS, COURSES, BROADCASTS & LINKS
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* Events in Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa. In order by date.
Additions & changes only. Full listing every Thursday.
* GOMBERG FOR MAYOR GREEN RIBBON CAMPAIGN,
Sun Nov 12, Toronto. Distribute leaflets at any subway station
or streetcorner, or join the team of volunteers for tonight's Green
Ribbon campaign. Endorsed by Jane Jacobs, Naomi Klein, Farley
Mowat & others. 416-968-7626 (416-your-man)
http://www.GombergForMayor.org tooker@web.ca
[SEE ALSO section (C), below: "Why Bother?"]
* ONTARIO MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS, Monday November 13,
2000. Municipal elections across Ontario. In Toronto, if you have
not received a "vote-at-card", you can still vote: call 416-338-1111
to find out what ward you're in and where you can vote.
Polls close at 8pm. More info in section (B) below, and at:
http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/vote2000 416-338-1111.
ELECTION NIGHT CELEBRATION, Mon Nov 13, 7pm,
Toronto. Come celebrate with Tooker Gomberg, campaigners &
friends, and watch the election returns roll in on large-screen TV
(polls close at 8pm). Licensed. NOW Lounge, 189 Church, just
south of Dundas. More info: 416-968-7626 tooker@web.ca
http://www.GombergForMayor.org
* FOOD ACTION OTTAWA, Mon Nov 13, 7:30pm, Ottawa.
Planning actions & information sessions around the hazards of
genetically engineered foods. All welcome. YM/YWCA,
O'Connor & Argyle. More info: Lucy, Sierra Club 613-241-4611
* WOMEN'S BREAKFAST, Wed Nov 15, 7:30-9am, Toronto.
With federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough. Free. Steelworkers'
Hall, 25 Cecil St (near College, west of Univesity; Queen's Park
subway). Please RSVP by Monday Nov 13: 416-443-7654
csceviour@ofl-fto.on.ca
* BREAKING THE MYTH OF FLEXIBLE WORK, Wed Nov 15,
5-7pm, Toronto. The realities facing workers in the "new global
economy" are laid bare in this startling new study by the
Contingent Workers Project. To find out what is happening to
women, immigrants and low wage workers in non-standard jobs,
come to the report launch of Breaking the Myths of Flexible Work.
Refreshments provided. 25 Cecil St (one block south of College at
Spadina). More info: Deena Ladd, Toronto Organizing For Fair
Employment 416-531-0778 gelladd@pathcom.com
* CORRECTED PHONE NUMBER:
WALKERTON, GMO'S & FACTORY FARMING, Thurs Nov
16, 7:30pm, Hamilton. Two of Canada's harshest food policy
critics discuss the roots of the Walkerton E. coli crisis, cross-
examining a food system they describe as "the single greatest
threat to our nation's health & natural resources". With Dr. Thomas
Barnard (Adjunct Professor of Human Biology & Nutritional
Sciences, Univ. of Guelph) and Joseph Pace (author of the
forthcoming book "One Bite: Food & the Power to Change the
World"). "Seventy percent of all illnesses & up to 50% of all
ecological destruction is diet-related. It's time we put our food
system under the spotlight," says Joseph Pace, who is co-
ordinating his book with a research & advisory team of more than
40 experts in the fields of nutrition, food safety, ecology,
agriculture, animal science & bio-ethics - including Dean Ornish,
David Pimentel, Colin Campbell, Jeffrey Masson and Jane
Goodall. Free, all welcome. Chester New Hall (room 104),
McMaster University. More info: Jen Mulqueen 905-526-8984
macveg@hotmail.com [hourly bus service from Toronto: 416-367-
8747] [some related sites: http://www.alertontario.org
http://www.purefood.org http://www.organicadvocates.org
http://www.AnimalAlliance.ca http://www.walkertoninquiry.com
http://www.walkerton.8m.com ]
* CITIZENS FOR LOCAL DEMOCRACY, Mon Nov 20, 7:30pm,
Toronto. The results of the Toronto municipal election; future plans
for the group. Free. Every Monday. Toronto City Hall (check at
reception for room #), Bay & Queen More info: c4ld@yahoo.com
416-977-8736 http://www.geocities.com/c4ld/
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(B) MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN TORONTO & ONTARIO
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Municipal Election Day (across Ontario) is tomorrow: Monday, November 13
-- the day when the homeless woman has as much power as Conrad Black!
One person, one vote (actually 3 votes: one for City Councillor, one for
Mayor,
and one for School Board Trustee).
YOU CAN VOTE IF:
(1) You will be 18 years of age or older on Election Day, November 13, 2000;
(2) You are a Canadian citizen; and
(3) You or your spouse live in, rent or own property in the City of Toronto,
anytime between September 5, 2000 and November 13, 2000
HOW & WHERE:
If you are on the voters' list, you will have received a vote-at-card in
the mail which tells you where to vote on election day. Bring your
vote-at-card and/or at least one piece of personal identification showing
your name and current address.
If you have not received a card, call 416-338-1111 for information on
where to vote. Even if you don't have I.D., and even if your home is a park
bench, you can show up at your nearest polling station, sign a form and vote.
PROXY VOTING:
If you are eligible to vote, but are, for any reason, unable to vote on any
of the voting days, you can ask a friend or family member who is eligible
to vote in this election to vote for you. Call 416-338-1111 to find out
how to get a proxy voting application.
MORE INFO:
The City's official election website is http://www.toronto.on.ca/vote2000.
View a map of the new ward boundaries and a current list of candidates.
For more info on the candidates themselves, you must call them directly.
Read this week's NOW or Eye magazine, or recent coverage in the
National Post. Sites of interest:
http://www.torontoenvironment.org/campaigns/campaigns-electenviroment.html
http://www.mnsj.org/working_groups/municipal/index.htm#unifaqs
http://www.megacityelection.com
http://www.myTO.com/Groups-MayoralRace2000
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(C) WHY BOTHER??
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Why bother voting in Toronto? What's all the fuss?
It's not just about garbage.
TOOKER GOMBERG AND THE POLITICS OF GARBAGE
Halifax Sunday Herald Nov. 1, 2000
by Silver Donald Cameron
I'm driving south on Highway 400 from Barrie, closing in on Toronto. The
glass towers glow in the setting sun of an October afternoon. There's a
thick haze in the air. Call it what it is: smog.
Highway 400 is eight lanes wide, plugged solid, moving slowly. I'm watching
for exit signs for 401 East. This is not a three-light wait at the Willow
Tree, friends. This is real traffic. I'm listening to Avril Benoit -- the
George Jordan of Southern Ontario -- hosting the CBC's local rolling-home
show. She's talking about one Tooker Gomberg, who's running for Mayor of
Toronto. She invites listeners to call with their opinions on Gomberg's
"in-your-face campaign."
The November 13 municipal election sounds very peculiar, even for this
peculiar city. The incumbent mayor, Mel Lastman, has a million-dollar war
chest, an 84% approval rating, and 25 opponents described by the Toronto
Star as "mostly nondescript." They include a busker, a communist meat
packer, a comedian, a street artist, several students and a leggy drag
queen who says that "a supercity needs a supermodel."
Tooker Gomberg has emerged from the pack with an aggressive and
entertaining campaign stressing "justice, ecology and democracy." A
45-year-old Greenpeace member and former Edmonton city councillor who works
part- time as a worm composter, Gomberg teaches a free course at the
University of Toronto on activist electioneering. He promised to "electrify
this municipal election with chutzpah, creativity, passion, and intelligent
cogent insights on what Toronto could be."
Gomberg promotes public transit by renting streetcars and inviting citizens
to talk with him while they ride free. He rides a bicycle, and talks about
a city where "our kids don't have to use inhalers to breathe." He publicly
burns a $200 personal rebate cheque from the Harris government to make the
point that public money should be invested in public services like transit
and housing. He bakes bread in an outdoor oven to mark World Food Day. He
supports renewable energy and urban agriculture. He has slept on the
streets with the homeless.
Gomberg tracks and heckles Lastman, throwing a hockey glove before him -- a
literal gauntlet -- and challenging him to debate the other candidates.
Lastman resolutely refuses. Gomberg plunked down a composter at Lastman's
house and spread compost on his yard. Lastman said he didn't need to
compost. He has no grass.
Avril Benoit seems to expect that callers will disapprove of Tooker
Gomberg's campaign -- but they don't. As I merge onto 401, caller after
caller speaks up for Gomberg. How is an underfinanced, little-known
candidate to attract media attention *except* by dramatic action? Why
*won't* Lastman talk about the increase of homelessness and hunger in this
unequally prosperous city? Why is Lastman focussing on splashy waterfront
developments and a bid for the 2008 Olympic Games when the city can't even
take care of its garbage?
Garbage is what really animates Gomberg's campaign, specifically Toronto's
failed attempt to ship its trash north by the trainload and dump it in an
abandoned mine. Now the city plans to send fleets of garbage-laden tractor-
trailers to northern Michigan instead. I allow myself a smug grin.
While Toronto searches desperately for new dump sites, Nova Scotia has
closed 80% of its landfills, and has created 2200 jobs by doing intelligent
things with its garbage. On October 17, I attended a luncheon in Halifax
sponsored by the Resource Recovery Fund Board. We were celebrating Nova
Scotia's success as the first jurisdiction in North America to achieve a
50% reduction in solid waste by the year 2000.
I am creeping along the 401 in a glacial flow of vehicles. Avril Benoit
introduces the arts report. The phenomenal young pianist Michael Kaeshammer
is performing tonight. So are Natalie MacMaster and The Chieftains. That's
just for starters.
Toronto remains a dynamic and vital city -- but it has apparently lost its
soul. Under David Crombie and John Sewell, Torontonians were proud of
Toronto's superb public transit, its extensive public housing, its early
blue-box recycling program, its enviable parks, its commitment to the arts.
They considered their city the model of a progressive urban community.
Mel Lastman's Toronto looks glitzy, but its air is foul, its roads are
clogged, soup kitchens abound and some of its people live in cardboard
boxes. Its elites lust for international grandeur, but the garbage fiasco
has left Torontonians perceptibly embarrassed. Garbage symbolizes the
city's broken dreams.
I park my rented car, carefully emptying it. My host's car has been burgled
four times recently. I am tempted to be condescending about Toronto, but
instead I am saddened. People love this city, and hate what has happened to
it. I think that my host, an astute and urbane man, would like to be proud
of his city again, as I am proud of my province. He is supporting Tooker
Gomberg. Why am I not surprised?
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Be sure to tell everybody you know how important it is to vote
in this election. Typically, most people don't bother. That means
that EVERY vote will count.
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(D) ABOUT THE PEOPLE- & PLANET-FRIENDLY
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