Nicaraguan Alvaro Orozco came to Canada in 2005. The 22-year-old has applied for refugee status becasue fo the dangers facing gay, lesbian and transgendered folks in his native country. But Orozco has seen his applications denied time and again, and has now gone into hiding out of fear of deportation.
Canada’s immigration and refugee board have said they believe that Nicaragua is a safe country for homosexuals. But, as his lawyer told Toronto magazine Extra! last year, the IRB doesn’t seem to be doing their homework.
“The [immigration] officer cites cruising grounds in Managua as evidence of a vibrant and thriving community,” says [El-Farouk Khaki, Orozco's layer]. “Amnesty International reports that people are getting killed and shot in those areas, but that is not taken into account because they’ve refused to consider [the Amnesty International report].”
There have been numerous cases where the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board rejected claims because they did not consider the bona fide fears of LGBTQ claimants. The only reasonable conclusion is that the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board does not consider sexuality a human right. Despite the many advancements on LGBTQ rights and freedoms over the years-which were only won due to dogged determination-these advancements are inconsistently understood by various levels of government.
On Nov. 14th, a coalition of Toronoto LGBTQ orgnaisations will be taking the government to task and focussing on the need to prioritise the human rights violations faced by queer folks around the world. “Migrations and Proud Art: Sexualtiy, Gender and Love are Human Rights” will be presented by
The International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network, LGBT-OUT, University of Toronto
and the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies.
Events will include Farzana Doctor, reading from her novel Stealing Nasreen, Evolutionary Girls Club: Art and Activism for Social Change, and the Tupilak/ILGCN travelling art and photo exhibit.
Admit it, you have a documentary film inside you that is just screaming to get out. Well, the good folks at Canadian Screen Training Centre may just be able to help you out.
They’ve just announced the line-up for this year’s installment of T2S - Taking it to the Screens. Throughout November the non-profit CSTC will be holding workshops in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. Instructors include award-winning directors Magnus Isacsson and Sheila Petzold, and all the sessions promise to offer quality insight into how to get the ball rolling on your own documentary film.
For all the details on the documentary sessions, keep reading after the jump. Or visit the T2S site for information on all the workshops (including screenwriting, producing and acting).
It’s that time of year again… Media Democracy Day is upon us! Begun in 1996, it was originally part of a response to Conrad Black gobbling up the major dailies into Hollinger (most of whose daily newspaper holdings were in turn gobbled up by the Asper-owned CanWest Global). Over the years the day has taken on a scope of its own, shining a bright light on the fewer and fewer hands that control the media in Canada.
Events are being held over the next 5 days in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, including lots of panels, workshops and guest speakers, as well as the Rabble.carelaunch in Toronto which promises to be a great event. Make sure to keep an eye out for your local CitizenShifters at the events!
Alright you lucky ducks, Eric Bernadski’s highly-anticipated documentary THE STRANGEST DREAM will be screening this upcoming Thursday October 23rd, at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. See below for details. It premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival this past September - and was met with a 10 minute standing ovation.
The Strangest Dream tells the story of Joseph Rotblat, the history of nuclear weapons and the efforts of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs which he founded to halt nuclear proliferation.
See you there!
The Strangest Dream
@ Saint Mary’s University
Thursday October 23rd, 2008
7pm
Sobey’s Building, room #255
This FREE event is being hosted by the SMU International Development Society.
I witnessed history in the making today. After a weekend of discussion, debate and networking, over 500 women, from across the country, came together to draft and adopt a young feminist manifesto. The first of its kind in Canadian history, the manifesto reflected the opinions, realities and concerns of young feminists from coast to coast who attended the Toujours RebELLEs / Waves of Resistance gathering.
Young women kick-off RebELLEs 2008!
The face of feminism is changing. While the manifesto certainly acknowledged the achievements and leadership of past feminist generations, young women also clearly denounced the mistakes and hurt caused by the past “mainstream feminist” movement; particularly how it largely dismissed and ignored the voices of racialized women, women of different social classes, indigenous women, differently-abled women, transgendered people and queer people amongst others. The manifesto clearly stated that the new face of feminism would be inclusive and use the plurality of its voices to amplify its message.
Walking through downtown Montreal this afternoon, you could witness the present-day struggles of women across Canada.
At around 4:30PM hundreds of young women, who were participating in the Toujours RebELLEs! / Waves of Resistance gathering, took to the streets performing direct actions to sensitize, educate and provoke discussions on numerous issues concerning young women today. Indigenous women’s struggles, violence against women, access to abortion, sexism in the media, and the rise of anti-feminism were just some of the issues brought to the downtown streets.
The direct actions were the culmination of the first full day of the Toujours RebELLEs! / Waves of Resistance gathering. The gathering opened with a plenary session that brought together over 500 women from every province and territory in Canada. The women joined together to discuss various forms of oppression that females face and to acknowledge how social class, race, sexual orientation, ableism etc. often compound oppression. Highlights of the morning’s activities included a powerful speech by multiracial, aboriginal activist Jessica Yee who spoke of the resilience of Aboriginal women and performances by Radical Cheerleaders from two prairie provinces.
Young women gather for the pan-Canadian young feminist gathering.
“Feminism is alive from sea to sea to sea…” so reads the description of “Toujours RebELLEs!/ Waves of Resistance,” the first ever pan-Canadian gathering of young feminists.
This is a pretty bold statement for a movement that seemed to have reached its pinnacle in the late 70s; but as I looked around me at this evening’s opening reception, I have to say, I could feel Feminism’s “Third Wave” wash over me.
The gathering will take place at UQUAM from October 11th -13th 2008. Over 500 young women aged 14 to 35 will gather from across the country to meet, organize, network, redefine and reinvigorate the Women’s movement in Canada and Quebec.
Founding developer of WordPress software, Matt Mullenweg
WordCamp, the conference for WordPress users and enthusiasts hosted in cities world wide, held the Toronto edition this past weekend. I was glad to be in attendance so that I could interact with the local podcasting community and blogosphere as well as hear from an impressive roster of WordPress wizards.
Highlights included presentations from Matt Mullenweg, founding developer of WordPress and inspiration behind WordCamp, Rannie Turingan a photographer who uses WordPress for his photoblog photojunkie.ca and Charles Hodgson, podcaster extraordinaire and the voice of Podictionary, the popular podcast devoted to the etymology of words.
Photographer and photoblogger, Rannie Turingan
I really appreciated Hodgson’s presentation; it was a simple, accessible and engaging overview on what inspired him to start podcasting (after buying iPods as gifts for his daughters, he wanted to explore the usefulness of the gadget beyond playing music.) He also spoke about how he came to decide on a topic to podcast about and the tools he uses to create and distribute them. The presentation served as an inspiration to anyone who’s thinking about podcasting, but isn’t quite sure how to go about it. To see Hodgson’s presentation click here.
There is something I have been meaning to tell the world and today is the day that I will do it. I …. Am ….. In ….. Love! I fell in love this summer. I was working at a well known environmentally friendly cosmetic store. On my first day I had an excema outbreak. We were trying on several lotions and I was uncomfortably trying to hide the rash and dry skin that was developing on the inside of my elbow. My manager saw my discomfort and that is when she introduce me. She introduced me the company’s hemp line of beauty products. Yes folks I am in love with hemp.
I have had excema for as long as I can remember and have always had a rash on the insides of my elbows. Some days are better than others but that particular area has never felt as soothed as when I first applied the hemp lotion. For the rest of the summer I looked to make believers out of as many customers as possible. If a customer told be they were looking for something to soothe dry skin the hemp line was my number one suggestion. If I so much as recognized or suspected that a customer had excema, forget it, they were getting the full demonstration. I think that line was my top seller. One day a customer came in. She was walking around the my favorite part of the store. I was mentally preparing myself to give one of my enthused explanations but to my surprise she is the one who informed me. Apparently hemp is one of the most environmentally friendly substances. We all know that it is used in making clothing. The customer informed me that the hemp fiber is really quite strong and is also used in construction. When utilized as insulation, it is useful in keeping moisture out of buildings and keeping in the heat. Upon more research I came across a study that was done in Suffolk England. The research provided insight as to how homes built using hemp materials stacked up to traditionally built homes. Although the hemp homes were pricier, the money saved on heating and maintenance balanced out the initial investment.
For a brief history on the use of hemp in North America in the 1940’s check out this video. Hemp For Victory (1942)
So yes I fell in love this summer with a plant. When I tallying up all the uses that can come from this one plant (paper, textile, construction materials, food, fuel, and cosmetics) how could I help it. Hemp makes multitasking look easy. I am not the only one who thinks so. This quote proves my point:
“Four thousand years ago, China’s Emperor Sheng Nung used hemp for rheumatism and constipation treatments. Buddha supposedly ate one hemp seed per day while fasting. Romans used hemp fibers in their ropes and sails. Gutenberg’s Bible, the American Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were all printed on hemp paper. France’s Nîmes weavers used hemp in manufacturing the first denim (De Nîmes). Since hemp made up the very first jeans, contemporary fashion has turned to hemp fiber. Hemp is not a trend that any industry can afford to miss. Armani, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren all use hemp in their fashion lines. “I believe that hemp is going to be the fiber of choice for the millennium,” said Calvin Klein.”
For this quote and much more information on the uses of hemp click here
Montrealer in her mid-twenties.
Freelance journalist and photographer,
with an interest in human rights and sustainable living.
Has a cheerful disposition.
Tynesha is CITIZENShift's summer intern from Concordia University's Communication department (Mtl., QC). Brimming with interests, she states "I enjoy school, I sing in a choir and I am also involved in community radio and volunteer work with youth. In the future, I look forward to developing a company that merges my three great passions in sound, community engagement, and music."
David Widgington was the event coordinator for the Citizen Media Rendez-vous 2010 (http://citizen-media.ca). He is a mobile journalist (MoJo) who is well-versed in community radio, video and print and web-based media practices. He has a particular interest these days with diaspora communities returning to Southern Sudan since the end of the war. He is script-writing a documentary project on the subject. (http://southsudaninfo.net).
