For many newcomers to Canada, political engagement is not an immediate priority. Immigration poses challenges, learning a new language, navigating a new community, seeking employment, finding housing, and so much more. It can be completely overwhelming for those newly arrived. But according to Adriana Salazar, a Toronto-based project co-ordinator at Toronto's Mennonite New Life Centre, civic participation is crucial for newcomers who seek to make a life for themselves within Canadian society.
Third Annual International Festival of Poetry of Resistance
Location
The 3rd International Festival of Poetry and Resistance (IFPOR) is in honour of oppressed people everywhere. In 2009, it focused on freedom for the Cuban Five and in 2010, on self-determination of peoples.
IFPOR views poetry as, yes, a source of delight, but, also, as a weapon for liberation as it was used by the great poets of the past such as Nazim Hikmet, Pablo Neruda, Ho Chi Minh, Jose Marti, Vladimir Mayakovsky and so many others around the world.
A complete programme and various locations for the three-day event can be found here.
Culture that can break down walls: Vancouver's Latin American Film Festival underway
| September 2, 2011Demanding an end to violence and repression in Honduras
While most in the United States were recognizing Memorial Day with a three-day weekend, the people of Honduras were engaged in a historic event: the return of President Manuel Zelaya, 23 months after he was forced into exile at gunpoint in the first coup in Central America in a quarter-century. While he is no longer president, his peaceful return marks a resounding success for the opponents of the coup. Despite this, the post-coup government in Honduras, under President Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo, is becoming increasingly repressive, and is the subject this week of a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, signed by 87 members of the U.S. Congress, calling for suspension of aid to the Honduran military and police.
Free Trade versus Fair Trade
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The fifth and final session of the Toronto Bolivia Solidarity (TBS) study group series, "Extracting Profits" will be held Sunday, May 15 at 2 p.m.
This last session, will compare the Canadian-European Union Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with the Bolivarian Alliance with the Americas (ALBA). Lisa Mantia and Paul Kellogg will discuss "Free Trade versus Fair Trade" by examining these two developments in trade politics.