Photo: Common Causes

Weekly roundup

January 28 was the #J28 global day of action for Idle No More and was marked by displays of solidarity from allies across Canada and internationally, as well as the launch of the Common Causes movement. 

Idle No More has also led to plenty of talk about the 2005 Kelowna Accord; find out more about those agreements here.

Following her leadership victory, Kathleen Wynne is slated to become Ontario’s first female premier and Canada’s first openly gay first minister. She’ll be joining Canada’s five other female premiers currently in office. For other women considering making a run for office, Equal Voice has designed Getting to the Gate, a free online campaign school.

Learn more about the Open Wireless Movement, and why it might be a good idea to open your Wi-Fi network to the whole neighbourhood.

The Guardian Project has apps that will help activists and journalists pump up the security on their smartphones.

This week on the toolkit, there are some links to free open-source software that will help your campaign make some noise. Booktype is self-publishing software that can help your movement create quality documents to spread the word digitally and in print. Airtime has the tools necessary to make running a radio station pain free. StatusNet is an open-source microblogging platform that communities and organizers can customize to share messages with their membership. 

February 6 is International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. Find out more about global efforts to end this practice here.

Elsewhere on rabble.ca

John Bennett is looking for feedback to help Sierra Club Canada make a decision regarding the use of civil disobedience while protesting the Keystone Pipeline. His reflections on the topic, and a link to the survey, can be found here.

Events

Toronto

Bloggers Behind Bars: How an Unconstitutional Law is Still Putting People in Jail

Toronto’s 100 Mile Literary Diet (Ongoing)

Want to add a tool? The Activist Toolkit is a wiki! Find out how to add tools and edit it here.

Belinda Ellsworth

Belinda Ellsworth

Belinda is a writer and researcher from PEI. She recently completed the 2011-2012 Ontario Legislature Internship Programme and previously graduated from Mount Allison University and Queen’s University....