Towards a Peoples' Social Forum

People's social forum planning begins

quote:

Whatever else it is, the social forum movement has created occasions on which people can gather and discuss and debate about strategy and long-term goals. The peoples' social forum in what is called Canada (Turtle Island), planned for late 2014, will be another such occasion. The entire left and all movements for social justice in Canada should be there to make it as strong and effective as possible. The meeting in Ottawa was a promising beginning; while sharing all of the aspects, both positive and negative, described above, it was also a very good place to start to build towards what may be a historic opportunity for strengthening resistance to neoliberalism on Turtle Island.

http://www.socialist.ca/node/1585

Toward a Peoples’ Social Forum in Canada - Vers un Forum Social des Peuples au Canada

Ottawa 21-24 August/août 2014

A grassroots Peoples’ Social Forum will be held in Ottawa-Gatineau from August 21-24 2014, with regional fora across Canada as well, as a means of  stimulating debate, discussion and furthering our sense of community and collective action. Un Forum Social des Peuples en partant de la base et horizontalement, aura lieu a Ottawa-Gatineau le 21-24 août 2014, avec aussi les forums regional à travers le Canada, pour stimuler le débat et les discussions et approfondir notre sens de la communuté et de l’action collective.

Thank you for your submissions of key themes for the People’s Forum. We have now raised start-up funding, hired 3 coordinators, and are off and running to organize an exciting and important events. Watch for events and consultations at your local level in preparation for the national Forum in August.

Merci pour vos propositions des thèmes essentiels pour le Forum des peuples. Nous avons maintenant trouvé le financement, embauché 3 coordinateurs et commencé a organiser un événement important et formidable. Attendez événements et consultations dans vos communautes en preparation pour le Forum national en août.

https://peoplessocialforum.wordpress.com/

..good, i look forward to seeing the new artwork.

Peoples Social Forum, August 21-24 Ottawa

Thousands of people are expected to gather in Ottawa from August 21-24, 2014 for the upcoming People’s Social Forum. Manitoba activists have a key role to play in this significant political moment that will bring social movements together from coast to coast.

The goal of the Peoples Social Forum is to build a united and cohesive front against the Conservative corporate agenda, austerity and privatization. A Labour Caucus has been established that, so far, includes  the FTQ, OFL, CUPE, CUPW, PSAC, CSQ, CSN, among others.  It's role is to develop and organize labour’s participation in the Peoples Social Forum.  Discussions are currently taking place with more unions, such as UNIFOR and USW, to expand the Labour Caucus. 

The Forum secretariat, comprised of three full-time staff has now been set up in Ottawa. Sister Anna Collins has been hired as the Aboriginal coordinator and she has also been charged with developing expansion committees on the Prairies.

The Labour Caucus has also formulated two themes to take to the program committee: "Work in the 21st Century" and "Defending the Social Safety Net and the Role of the State".  These more general themes encompass Labour’s concerns but are also formulated in such a way as to favour collaboration with the networks, common fronts and alliances that we are active in. Labour's social justice allies are encouraged to join  the Peoples Social Forum.

http://mfl.ca/peoples-social-forum-august-21-24-ottawa

iyraste1313

..i have concerns as well. there are different agendas going into this forum. one is that there is an electoral remedy to our problems. the port elgin proposal is key in my opinion. it was postponed at the initial launching of psf until this session. i wait to see the agenda. it is worth reading this thread from the begining to get a overview.

Organize together to defeat the corporate agenda: The Port Elgin Coalition Proposal

quote:

The Proposal

● In Québec, the “Red Hand Coalition” was successful in bringing together labour, student unions, community groups and women’s organizations, and was a key element in building wider solidarity with the student strike. This kind of broad-based coalition can serve as a model for the development of regional coalitions in other parts of Canada that would be autonomous and able to organize their own actions, using a democratic and horizontal model of organization.

● Regional coalitions based on assemblies, including provincial assemblies alongside Indigenous assemblies, would link up in a pan-Canadian Coordinating Assembly. The regional coalitions would build representative structures inclusive to racialized, immigrant, and other communities. The pan-Canadian Coordinating Assembly would identify common campaign issues and projects and map out strategies of action. The coordinating assembly should be multi-national, with Québec, Canada and Indigenous Peoples represented as distinct but equal components. Relations between them would be guided by protocols in the spirit of the original wampums, agreements of coexistence, respect, and distinctness between Indigenous and non-Indigenous nations.

● We aim to create new forms of solidarity, while recognizing the different interests and inequalities that have emerged from histories of colonialism, patriarchy and oppression. We believe new forms of solidarity are essential to change the long-term political dynamics in Canada. Our proposal does not preclude other regional or provincial autonomies, or preclude Indigenous participants from participating in other regional assemblies and bodies. But it recognizes as central to this political project the creation of an alliance built around an Indigenous, Quebec, and Canada triangle.

● This form of organizing could handle several overarching issues. However, we believe a key organizing opportunity exists around the need for an alternative, just energy economy, which can be a gateway issue to garner broad interest and support, and simultaneously fight for economic and climate justice. Winning such an agenda would transition our society away from dependence on fossil fuels, combat the austerity agenda by creating more democratic, equitable and re-localized economies, and recognize and respect Aboriginal Rights, Aboriginal Title and Treaties. Corporate capture of the political process in the pursuit of reckless resource development has also eroded democracy, of deep concern to many across Canada. Of course, this proposed focus would have to be discussed and decided upon by the Coordinating assembly.

● This could open the door to organizing community, kitchen and neighborhood assemblies to encourage mobilization at the local level, or mobilizing strategies like a people's energy coalition on the model of the successful People’s Food Commission of the 1980s.

http://rabble.ca/news/2012/12/port-elgin-coalition-proposal-organize-tog...

..imho. i see the eglin proposal as growing out of the idle no more, que students, militant unionism and pipeline resistance. this in turn has been influeanced /a part of the larger global resistance movements ie arab spring, southern europe, the occupy and of course the south american experience. how progressives view the world today is not a concern to me. more to the point is the organizations needed where we can express our resistance, our solutions in a collective way. thus the elgin proposal. it's not like the forum is an empty vessel.

..my primary concern is that the coming federal election becomes the primary focus of the forum. with the elgin proposal again being shoved onto a back burner when in fact no federal political party will resolve the issues we face by way of international agreements, theft of natural resources, abuse of first people or destruction of the environment. keep in mind how water will grow as an issue into a crisis. this will be short term thinking. and frankly a mistake that will set back our opportunities to organize for both resistance to the current onslaught and implementing solutions towards a better world.

Themes - Thèmes

Here are the themes adopted by Peoples Social Forum (PSF). You can find a description of each by scrolling down on this page. The themes are the result of a public consultation that took place between November and December 2013. The results of the consultation were discussed within all the bodies of the PSF structure to ensure maximum input.

Voici les thèmes retenus par le comité programme de Forum social des peuples. Vous pouvez trouver des descriptions plus détaillées de chaque thème sur cette page. Ces thèmes sont le résultat d'une consultation publique qui s'est tenue en novembre et décembre 2013 et furent par la suite discutés dans toutes les structures du FSP.....

1. Climate / Climat
2. Communication
3. Community / Communauté
4. Control / Controle
5. Earth / Terre
6. Food / Alimentation
7. Gender / Genre
8. Governance and democracy / Gouvernance et démocratie
9. Impoverishment / Appauvrissement
10. International
11. Knowledge / Savoir et connaissance
12. Migration
13. Movements / Mouvements
14. Spirit / Spiritualité
15. Work / Travail

http://www.peoplessocialforum.org/themes#.UyG1iF

Winnipeg Peoples’ Social Forum

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Winnipeg-Peoples-Social-Forum/14677856001...

Vancouver preparation meeting

The Vancouver Committee is having a meeting on:

Tuesday, March 25,

5 - 7pm

Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House  

800 E. Broadway (near Fraser).

All welcome to participate.

Follow the Vancouver Organizing Committee on Facebook

***vancouver event cancelled***

Ottawa Launch Party for the Peoples Social Forum - Arts Edition.

Tuesday April 8th Gallery 101

7pm: Potluck (please list ingredients), mingle, connect with social forum organizers, register for the forum

7:30pm-11:00pm: poetry, short speeches, musical performances, & dancing

The theme of this first social event is ARTS & CULTURE. In that spirit we encourage you all to invite the artists in your lives to come participate and get involved as Art is a crucial component of the forum.

Join us, here in the host community, to celebrate the ongoing efforts to build this historic event, hear from local activists and movement leaders, connect with people active in the organizing process, register for the forum, share your visions and ideas for forum activities, get plugged into the local organizing groups, eat, drink and be merry.

Featured Performances

7:30 – Elizabeth Riley Band

8:00 – Poets Brandon Wint and Brad Morden

8:30 – Eric Mandala

9:15 – Slim Moore and the New Soul Project

Additional Performances by Hip-hop artist Testament of the group "Test Their Logik" and Laura Margita

https://www.facebook.com/events/663930773671514

..it's back on.

Peoples’ Social Forum Assembly on Climate and Oil & Gas in BC

The BC Expansion Committee of the People's Social Forum is holding a special local Assembly on climate, pipelines and oil and gas extraction and export issues in BC.

Saturday, April 26, 1pm-4pm at Harbour Centre (SFU downtown, 515 W. Hastings)

The event will feature speakers on the tar sands pipelines and LNG. Workshop topics include creative protest and local organizing against the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1481674405378953/?ref_newsfeed_story_typ...

..this was posted to the facebook page.

Get Intersectional! (Or, Why Your Movement Can't Go It Alone)

"Intersectionality" has evolved from a theory of how oppression works to a notion of how people can fight it.

"There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives." –Audre Lorde

Here’s the scenario: This year’s epic drought devastates agriculture in California. Water use is rationed, so the cost of grain goes up, and, because cattle eat grain, the cost of beef goes up too. To cut expenses, the owners of a fast food restaurant cut a worker's wages and benefits by a couple bucks an hour. Next month he won’t be able to send money to his wife and kids back in Mexico, where the same drought is also decimating farms—and may be contributing to even more northward migration.

What’s the origin of the restaurant worker’s predicament?....

http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/get-intersectional-why-your-movement-c...

Attend a day-long Alberta Regional Convergence on June 14 at the University of Alberta in Edmonton to plan the next steps forward, including ideas for workshops, travel to Ottawa, and continuing to build a Peoples’ Social Forum here in Alberta as well. Stay tuned for the itinerary!

The Alberta Expansion Group will work with local organizers throughout Alberta, including in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Calgary, Red Deer, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, and anywhere else to encourage and support the holding of local organizing meetings.

SIGN UP to the Alberta Peoples’ Social Forum mailing list to stay connected:

https://www.facebook.com/PSFAlberta?ref=stream

..reminder that this is on tomorrow

Peoples’ Social Forum Assembly on Climate and Oil & Gas in BC

The BC Expansion Committee of the People's Social Forum is holding a special local Assembly on climate, pipelines and oil and gas extraction and export issues in BC.

Saturday, April 26, 1pm-4pm at Harbour Centre (SFU downtown, 515 W. Hastings)

April 26 Climate and Pipelines Assembly - Schedule:

1:00pm: Plenary on tar sands pipelines & fracking and LNG - Room 1800

Speakers:

-Carleen Thomas, Tsleil-Waututh Nation
-Dana Hibbard, Skeena Watershed Conservation (via Skype)
-Kai Nagata, Dogwood Initiative
-Nadia Santoro, BC People's Social Forum organizing committee

***

2:30 - 4:00pm: Workshops

There are 3 workshops to choose from:

2:30pm - Room 1800
UNIONS AND THE CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGE

• The history of the environmental movement and labour movement in BC
• The influence and scope of fossil fuel industries and what this means for the labour movement
• Strategies for growing and strengthening the relationship between the environmental and labour movement

Speakers:

Karen Cooling - Long time labour and environmental activist in her union, her community and in the NDP. She recently retired from Unifor but continues to work and volunteer on human rights, health and environmental issues.

Gene McGuckin - Retired paperworker and a member of the Vancouver Ecosocialist Group with a history of draft-dodging, peace activism, and serving as a local union officer and freelancing as an agitator for increased union democracy and militancy.

Gary Engler - Longtime Vancouver journalist who is currently vice-president of Unifor Local 2000 and author of The New Commune-ist Manifesto—Workers of the World It Really is Time to Unite.

*****

2:30pm - Room 2260
Local Organizing Against the Kinder Morgan Pipeline

Speakers include:

- Ben West, Forest Ethics Advocacy
- Carleen Thomas, Tsleil-Waututh Nation
- Elsie Dean, Elsie Dean, BROKE

2:30pm - Room 2925
Creative visuals, street art and direct action in the fight against pipelines and climate change

Presenter/Facilitator: Cameron Fenton,
National Director at Canadian Youth Climate Coalition

https://www.facebook.com/events/1481674405378953/?notif_t=plan_edited

..the latest poster. i like it a lot.

Hosted by OSSTF D12 (Toronto Teachers and Professional Support Staff) Human Rights Committee

The theme of the forum is Creative Resistance.

Student and educator activists will connect with community, union, and artist activists to share their commitments, passions, and experiences in a way that will inspire all involved to continue and deepen their work.

We are aiming to build a network connecting students and educators working on social justice and human rights issues with people in the broader community doing the same work.

The event will also feature the Camille Natale Awards. These annual awards recognize outstanding human rights/social justice work done by TDSB students.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1389560114632086/?ref_newsfeed_story_typ...

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The Peoples Social Forum will be the result of 2 years of planning with key members of various social movements. Labour, Indigenous Peoples, organizers for Migrant Justice, Environmental Justice, and anti-capitalist organizers are collaborating to make a convergence in which many convergences fit. A conference that is self-organized by its participants and based on a successful organizing model that has been used to strengthen social movements around the world, the World Social Forum. Please join us to make this forum your own! REGISTER to the forum, PROPOSE a workshop, ENGAGE in a Movement Assembly, and GET INVOLVED! This August 21-14, all roads lead to Ottawa!

Climate change a central issue at forthcoming Peoples’ Social Forum

An important meeting of environmental activists is to be held in Montréal on June 6 to plan a concerted approach at the August Peoples’ Social Forum (PSF) in Ottawa. The meeting will coincide with the expected approval of the Harper government to the development of the Northern Gateway pipeline, which will convey chemically-treated bitumin (“dilbit”) from the Alberta tar sands to the west coast of British Columbia for subsequent export.

Michel Lambert of the Montréal NGO Alternatives, an initiator of the PSF, described the goals of the Montréal meeting in a recent article in rabble.ca:

“The Conservatives rely so heavily on the increase of tar sands in order to achieve their economic extractivist program that they categorically deny that climate change is a very real problem. Other parties seem relatively cautious in raising the issue and haven't made any attempts at introducing an exit strategy from the fossil fuels, as has been done in many Nordic countries.

“The ball is therefore in our court as a civil society to ensure action. On June 6, this novel process will reunite forces from the East and the West, with Indigenous communities taking part in a massive non-partisan alliance in order to force the Conservative Party to modify its approach, as well as force the other parties to adapt their platform and broach the topic of climate change if they truly wish to replace Harper. The meeting in June will lead to a much larger meeting during the Peoples' Social Forum from August 21 to 24 in Ottawa, during which more than 10,000 people are expected to participate.

“The Assembly on Climate Change will be the first initiative gathering forces from all Canadian territories. Indigenous and environmental groups, citizens' associations, scientists, youth and all those who are active on this issue will be present.”

http://lifeonleft.blogspot.ca/2014/05/climate-change-central-issue-at.html

Winnipeg Social Forum

Saturday, July 5, 9:00am

University of Winnipeg Students' Association

515 Portage Avenue

Join us for a day of activist discussion, organising and inspiration.

Speakers and events T.B.A.

* Great music and company
* Opening panel and plenary
* Potluck picnic in the sun
* Afternoon assemblies on pipelines and fracking, how to defeat the Conservatives, jobs and wages, and education.

Contact us if you are interested in participating in this event (sponsorship, tabling, hosting a workshop or artistic event. All ideas welcome!)