Solidarity Against Austerity is a newly formed network of community, student, labour, peace, environmental, and anti-poverty organizations, which is organizing to stop the cuts to our public services and defend workers rights.

May Day is a commemoration and active civic engagement that takes place on International Labour Day, whereby we remember the struggles of workers across the world who have fought and continue to fight for fairer wages, better working conditions, and equal economic opportunities. This day, is for all members of Canadian society.

The Chicago Prison Industrial Complex Teaching Collective created this amazing workshop to introduce activists to the concept of the Prison Industrial Complex. The guide creates an outline for an intensive four hour long workshop which covers a ton of material. The 77 page guide doesn't skimp on the details and takes trainers through each activity. Although geared towards a US audience, the outline can be easily adapted to Canadian content. The workshop covers:

Icebreakers

Defining the PIC

PIC jeopardy

PIC timeline

Big banks are everywhere. The banking industry has designed ways to expand their services at a huge cost to local communities, taking money out of these communities to be used by large central banks located elsewhere. The bank's local branch may be community based but the shareholders and owners all are outside of local communities. Branches extract money and send it to the central headquarters where local money is invested in big international deals that don't affect the community.

ibanklocally is trying to stop this.

The good food box grew out of a desire to create sustainable options to get fresh vegetables and fruits to people who live in poverty. It was first started by the Toronto Food Share.

History

The group saw that food banks were problematic in many ways: people were ashamed about taking charity, the food given was typically over processed and unhealthy and understood that food banks are not a sustainable response to hunger. Instead, Food Share started to explore alternative self-help models for community building and continuous growth, like community gardens and collective kitchens.

Lifecycles produced this handbook about how to put on several different workshops for schools and communities. The workshops use drama to talk about the importance of food security and sustainability in an accessible and fun way. Participants become involved in skits and theatre that communicate real issues in food justice. The workshops range from an hour to two hours in length. Each workshop contains:

A supply list

Detailed outline

Suggested age groups

Specific focus

Optional modifications

On March 21, 1966 Canada observed its first day for the elimination of racial discrimination along with other United Nations countries. The day was created as a global memorial for those who lost their lives during the Sharpeville massacre. On that day in 1960, police open fired on peaceful anti-apartheid protesters in the South African town. 69 people were killed and 180 were injured.

Locavores are folks who only eat food that is locally produced and sold. It's an act of resistance to the commercialization of food production and a commitment to support local economies and farmers.

The idea of eating local was popularized by the ecologist Gary Paul Nabham in the early 2000s. Organized awareness campaigns in Canada and the United States brought the idea of the "100 mile diet" (only eating food produced within 100 miles) to kitchen tables worldwide.

What's local

This facilitator's guide contains several workshops to empower girls coming of age by validating and sharing their experiences with menstruation and its commercialization, commodification and stigmatization. The introduction gives tips on how to be a better facilitator as well as how to create a safe space. The guide includes workshops that:

Compare the history of menstruation to modern understandings

Explore puberty rites from around the world

Challenge the corporatization of periods