COMMUNITY SOCIAL PLANNING COUNCIL OF
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Issue # 39, June
2006
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the thirty ninth edition of the electronic newsletter from the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto. At the beginning of each month, this e-bulletin provides news on the activities of the CSPC-T and our partners, as well as access to new research and policy products and networks, in print and web-based forms. We hope it is useful. We value and welcome your feedback at the email address below.
To subscribe to this bulletin, send an email with your name, organization, address, and telephone number to cspc@cspc.toronto.on.ca with the message
SUBSCRIBE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
If you wish to stop receiving the bulletin, send the message UNSUBSCRIBE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
If you do not have regular access to email and you wish to receive this bulletin, please contact Margaret Hau at (416) 351-0095 x 211, and she will arrange to send it to you by fax. If you want a printable version of this newsletter, please go to:
http://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/CSPC-T%20Newsletters/Newsletter%202006.htm
Please note
the deadline to submit information for the next e-Newsletter is June 28, 2006.
CONTENTS
1. News from the Council
2. Upcoming Events
3. News from our Partners
4. Conferences and Calls for Papers
5. Information Resources
5.1 New Reports and Publications
5.2 Websites of Interest
6. Contact Us
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1. NEWS FROM
THE COUNCIL
CSPC-T
Welcomes New Board Members
Over 100 members and supporters attended the May 16 Annual General Meeting of the Community Social Planning Council, held at the Ontario Bar Association meeting centre.
In addition to a lively panel discussion on “Social Planning in the 21st Century,” featuring Amanuel Melles (Director, Organizational Capacity Building, United Way of Greater Toronto), Tom Walkom (Political Columnist, Toronto Star), and Armine Yalnizyan (CSPC-T Director of Research), the membership elected seven members to the 15-member Board of Directors. They are:
Yasmin
Bhatia
Yasmin has over 20 years professional
experience in financial management, accounting, auditing, mediation and
management. Since 1985, Yasmin has been
with the Government of Canada’s Revenue Agency, where she is currently a Large
Files Case Tax Auditor. Yasmin also has
over 25 years of volunteer experience both in her workplace and with the
not-for-profit sector. She is a former
board member of the Aga Khan Social Welfare Board, Visible Minorities
representative on the Canada Revenue Agency’s Women’s Committee. She also worked as an ESL teacher in a
village in
Vera
Dodic
Vera is currently the Coordinator, Emergency
Planning at the Toronto Public Health.
Vera has extensive experience working in the non-profit sector, including working as Director, Programs for the Canadian Red Cross, Toronto Region. She recently completed a Non-Profit Management Certificate Program through Schulich School of Business.
Ali-Bashi
Farah
Ali-Bashi is currently working as a Program
Coordinator at the Somali Community Centre of Etobicoke. Ali-Bashi has a B.A. in Sociology and worked
with Midaynta as part of their Crime Prevention and Youth support team. He’s currently a member of The Somali
Youth. Ali-Bashi was recently featured in NOW
magazine’s Black History Month February issue as one of six young people making
tremendous contributions in the city of
Andrew
Lalonde
Andrew is a Program Manager with BMO
Financial Group responsible for overseeing Change Management across Personal
and Commercial Product Operations. In
his 10 plus years with BMO he has held positions in Call Centre Management,
Marketing, Communications and Change Management. Andrew sits on the Board of ALDER – Adult
Learning Disabilities Employment Resources and has been Chair of its
Fundraising and Event Planning committee since September 2005. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Mary
Elspeth Milosh
Mary El Milosh worked as a teacher,
consultant, and administrator with the Toronto Board of Education, before her
retirement form her position as Vice-Principal of Ryerson Community School in
the Kensington community in 2004. Mary
El is the mother of two children, and lives in
Linda Torney
Linda is
the immediate past president of the
Before finishing her Labour Studies with
honours degree at
The Council is delighted to welcome these new and returning members to our Board of Directors.
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CSPC-T
Hosts Successful International Conference
Almost 150 registrants from across
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The Community Social Planning Council of
Toronto (CSPC-T) is looking for a full-time summer student to provide research
assistance for a national survey of food banks in
Submission deadline: Monday, June 5 at 5 PM
For more
details on the job posting, visit the CSPC-T’s website at: http://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/Events%20&%20Opportunities/Opportunities/SCP%20Job%20Posting%2006.htm
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2. UPCOMING
EVENTS
Living the Dream with Mike Lipkin
This is a full-day workshop designed to support immigrants in the
challenge of trying to find employment in their chosen profession.
Date & Time: Saturday, June 3rd, 9:00 – 3:30 pm
Location: Holiday Inn on
Guest speakers will include
Living the Dream will be facilitated by world-renowned motivational
speaker Mike Lipkin.
To register and for further information go to: http://www.triec.ca/initiatives/livingthedream.htm, or contact Ivy Shao at 416.944.2627 x 274 or ishao@triec.ca
for more information.
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Pandemic Flu Influenza
Information Sessions
As the lead agency for pandemic
influenza preparedness for the City of Toronto the Toronto Public Health is
hosting information sessions for a number of sectors on pandemic influenza
preparedness for community agencies.
Community agencies play an important
role in the lives of many residents and vulnerable populations. The
purpose of these sessions is to provide up-to-date information on the City's
pandemic influenza plan and help you prepare to manage any potential impact a
pandemic could have on your clients and services
Dates, Time & Location
June 1 Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. West 7-9pm
June 6 Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen St. West 2-4pm
June 8 Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Dr. 2-4pm
June 20 Etobicoke Civic Centre, 399 The West Mall 2-4pm
June 29 North York Civic Centre, 5100 Yonge St. 2-4pm
To register, please phone Access Toronto at
416-338-0338, (TTY 416-338-0889). Please indicate if you require any
special accommodation. General information on pandemic influenza planning
will be available at the sessions, and posted at: www.toronto.ca/health
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Through Our Eyes
This past winter youth have been engaged in learning photographic
techniques and capturing the spirit of their community. Join us to recognize
and celebrate the achievements of these youth.
Date & Time:
Monday, June 5, 6:00 pm
Location: Elmbank
Community Centre,
For further information, kindly contact Jenny
Katz at: 416-925-9250 xt. 286 or email: jkatz@turningpoint.ca
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Count Us In! Working Group
Community Forum
Are you a healthcare provider, community
worker, social services provider, policymaker or community member, come hear the
findings from a participatory community research project on homeless women and
inclusion in Downtown East Toronto.
Date & Time:
Wednesday, June 7, 9:30 – 11:00 am
Location: Parliament
Library,
2nd floor, Community Room
For further information, kindly contact Catherine
Turl at: 416-338-7867
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Women's
Call to Action Coalition
Call
to ACTION to END WOMEN'S POVERTY
A Woman Stuck In Poverty......Is A Woman Stuck
In Abuse
Raise the Rates NOW: End Violence Against Women
& Children
Join with other women on to demand that the
government:
Date & Time: June 7, 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Location: Outside Minister Madeleine Meilleur's
office at the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Hepburn Block, 80
Grosvenor St., Toronto
For further information contact:
Cindy at: cindy@nellies.org
and Karen at: klhcan2002@yahoo.com
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50th Anniversary Gala-Dinner
Dance
The West
Scarborough Neighbourhood is calling all former employees, volunteers,
participants to their 50th anniversary Gala-Dinner Dance.
Date & Time: Saturday, June 10, from 7:00 pm
Tickets:
$25/person
Buffet
dinner, cash bar, live entertainment & silent auction
Kindly
R.S.V.P. to: 416-755-9215
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Nellies Shelter & Programs for Women
Annual Fund-raising Event
Nellie’s cordially invites you to their 4th Annual fundraiser, Jazz it Up 2006.
Date & Time: Saturday, June 10, from 7:00 pm
Location: Harbourfront Centre, Brigantine
Theatre, 235 Queens Quay W
Featured artist: Jackie Richardson
Ticket cost: $57 and can be purchased from:
Harbourfront Box Office at: 416-973-4000
Nellie’s at: 416-461-8903
For further information contact Cindy Cowan
at: 416- 461-9849 or E-mail: cindy@nellies.org
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National Migrant Justice
Gathering: Building Solidarity, Taking Action
Migrant Voices for Migrant Justice
Join us for an evening for dialogue and solidarity, with
personal stories about the struggles and dreams of:
Live-in Caregivers
Seasonal Agricultural Workers
Undocumented workers
Moderated by Susan McClelland, Amnesty International Canadian Media Award 2005
Recipient
Date & Time; Saturday, June 10, 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Location: Ryerson University, Jorgenson Hall LIB-72, (350 Victoria Street)
For further information contact Tanya
Chute Molina at: 416-463-5312 x 252 or email: tchute@kairoscanada.org
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The Macaulay Child Development Centre
Annual
General Meeting
The Macaulay Child Development Centre invites you to their Open House and Annual General Meeting at which they will be dedicating Chris’ Corner (in memory of Christine DeGennaro).
Date
& Time: Monday, June 12, 5:00 -7:00 pm
Location:
RSVP by
June 5th to 416-789-7441
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Helping Other People Everywhere (H.O.P.E)
18th Annual Volleyball Tournament
Join us
for some fun in the sun and raise funds for
Date:
Saturday, June 17th
Location:
Olympic Island (at
Entry fee
for a team of 6-10 players is $225.
Raise $1,500 in pledges as a team and H.O.P.E. will refund your entry
fee.
Team
registration deadline is June 7th
To sign
up your team and for further information log on to: www.volleyball.com
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Community
Festival
Come out for a day filled with fun, games food and
music for people of all ages. All
activities are free
Date & Time: Saturday, June 24, starting at
12:00 – 6:00 pm
Community organizations are invited and
encouraged to participate by setting up information booths about the services
they offer.
Artists are also being recruited to perform at
this event.
For further information about this event, to
reserve your booth or to register as a performer please R.S.V.P to Rayon Brown
via email or fax by Friday June 16, 2006 no later than 5:00pm at: rbrown@braeburn.net, 416
745-3113 (Office), 416 558-1838 (Cell), 416 745-9108 (Fax)
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Centre for Health Promotion,
The Centre for Health Promotion at the
Date: Monday, June 26 –
Preschool:
Location: BMO Institute for Learning (courses and accommodation)
For more information contact: Lisa at (416) 469-4632, or e-mail: hpss@rogers.com or
Website: www.utoronto.ca/chp/hpss
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Bereaved Families of
Conference
on Grief and Loss Within the Black Community
This conference is entitled “Reclaiming Our
Past to Heal Our Present.”
Date & Time: Friday, June 30th,
9:30 – 4:30 pm
Location:
Featuring Allan Bernard, Centre for Caribbean
Thought, University of the
Registration is a must. Last day to register is Friday, June 23rd.
For registration and other
information, please contact Janina
Joseph-Walker at:
416- 440-0290 Ext 24 or email info@bfotoronto.ca
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City of
Nominations for Community
Mayor David Miller has declared April 23-29
as Volunteer Week, and the City of
Each year, through the
Community
Nomination forms,
information about eligibility and criteria for the 2006 Community
Nomination forms will
be available at libraries and civic and community centres throughout the city
in limited quantities in early May.
The deadline to submit nominations is
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3. NEWS FROM
OUR PARTNERS
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The
Scarborough CAN invites you to their first AGM at which they will be
celebrating their successes and formalizing their plans and organizational
framework.
Guest
Speaker: Grace-Edward Galabuzi,
Date
& Time: Tuesday, June 13, Noon - 2:00 pm
Location:
Mid-Scarborough Community Centre,
RSVP by
Thursday, June 8th, to Jasmine Noureddin at: 416-531-4478 or jasmine@publicinterest.ca
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Healthy Housing - Call for Participants
Positive Spaces, Healthy Places, is a
community-based comprehensive research study aimed at improving the overall
health and well-being of people living with AIDS/HIV (PHA’s) across
By participating in the HIV, housing and health study, you will be helping to shape the way PHA’s live.
Participation is completely confidential. An honorarium will be provided.
To participate
in the study call 1-866-301-2548 (
To find out more about this study visit: www.healthyhousing.ca
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Canadian Urban Institute
Urban Leadership Awards (ULA) Recipients
Recipients of the Canadian Urban Institute’s Urban Leadership Awards (ULA) will be honoured at the 3rd annual ULA luncheon on June 5, 2006, at the Fairmont Royal York
Recipients:
Jane Jacobs Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient: Michael Harcourt, former BC Premier and Vancouver Mayor and spinal cord injury survivor.
Leadership Award Recipients: Benny Farm Task Force (Montreal); Dr. Peter Simon, Royal Conservatory of Music; Robert Sirman, Canada’s National Ballet; Steven Peck, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities; 10,000 Trees Project (Waterloo); Michael “Pinball” Clemons and the Toronto Argonauts; PACT Youth Crime Reduction Program; Jamal Clarke, Friends in Trouble Youth Initiative; Subria Lapps (Ajax).
Local Heroes: “Mr. Woodstock” Edwin Bennett; internationally renowned Diane Dupuy; architect Joe Lobko; GTA Faith Alliance’s Reverend Don Meredith; International Village BIA’s Mary M. Pocius (Hamilton); youth crime prevention crusader Staff Inspector James Sneep of the Toronto Police Service’s Community Mobilization Unit.
To purchase tickets go to: www.canurb.com/awards or call 416-365-0816 x236
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International
Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF)
Help
for Indonesian Earthquake Victims
More than 5,000 people were killed and
thousands injured when a powerful earthquake struck the Indonesian
To make a donation please contact IDRF at 416- 497-0818 or toll-free at 1-866-497-4373. Alternatively, you can donate online by clicking here. Please enter "Indonesia Earthquake" in the COMMENTS box.
All Donations to IDRF are Tax Creditable
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4. CONFERENCES AND CALLS FOR PAPERS
Access
Research Report Presentation
You are invited to attend the breakfast presentation
of the research report entitled “Examining Systemic and Individual Barriers
Experienced by Visible Minority Social Workers in Mainstream Social Service
Agencies: A Community Project.”
Date & Time: Tuesday, June 13th, 8:30 - 11:00 am
Location:
Please RSVP to Dorene Weston at 416.406.3806 or westond@idirect.com by June 7 and indicate any dietary restrictions.
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The Canadian Council for Refugees
International Refugee Rights
Conference
The Canadian Council for Refugees, in
collaboration with the International Association for the Study of Forced
Migration and hosted by the Centre for Refugee Studies, is holding an
international rights conference as their spring consultation. The Conference goal is to leave the event
having agreed on strategies to ensure that organizations work together more
effectively across borders to protect the rights of refugees. Organizations
that are supportive of these issues are also welcome to attend.
Date & Time: June 17th-19th, 9:00 – 4:00 pm
Location: The Centre for Refugee Studies,
For more information, visit:
http://actew.aa.metastrategies.com/actew/actew/eventdetails.shtml?x=49429
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Art for Real Change Festival (ARCfest) 2006
Call For Submissions
ARCfest is a Social Justice Arts Festival that will
be held from October 23rd-29th in multiple venues in the Queen West Art and
Design District and Parkdale neighbouroods in
We are looking for provocative, radical,
inspiring, empowering, innovative and/or enlightening works from across the
artistic media (i.e., film, poetry, performing arts, music, visual arts and
anything else you consider art). Proposals must address local social justice/
activist/human rights issues.
We encourage projects that are co-created or
co-produced by an artist together with an organization involved in social
justice pursuits (though this is not a requirement)
ARCfest is committed to supporting equity and
embraces submissions from diverse communities.
Send your
submissions to: Face in The Crowd Collective, PO BOX 128. Station E,
Toronto, ON, M6H 4E1
ATTN: ARCfest Submissions Committee
(submissions will not be accepted by email)
Submission deadline is: Monday, June 12th, 2006
For more information: email info@arcfest.org
or visit our website www.arcfest.org
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Images of
Call for Submission
The Toronto Community Foundation
(TCF) in partnership with CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival is seeking images that portray
quality of life in
Submission deadline is: Friday, June 30, 2006 (late submissions cannot be accepted).
Further information, criteria and submission procedures can be obtained
by visiting www.tcf.ca
and www.contactphoto.com
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5. INFORMATION
RESOURCES
5.1
New Reports and
Publications
The Task Force on Modernizing Income Security for
Working-Age Adults
Time for a fair Deal
The
Toronto City Summit Alliance (TCSA) and St. Christopher House (St. Chris) released
their report “Time for a Fair Deal” calling for fundamental reform of
Declaring the current system in need of a thorough overhaul, The
Task Force on Modernizing Income Security for Working-Age Adults (MISWAA)
identified three key issues plaguing low-income Canadians:
·
Many working people cannot earn enough to make ends meet even when
working full-time for a full year – at least 30% of low-wage workers fall into
this group
·
Employment Insurance (EI) no longer covers the majority of the
temporarily unemployed – in
·
Existing social assistance programs are punitive, make it difficult
to escape poverty, and create a “welfare trap” for many
The Task Force’s recommendations are aimed at the federal
government, the provincial government, municipal governments, and other parts
of civil society that all must be part of the solution.
The full MISSWA report is available on the web at www.torontoalliance.ca
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The Atkinson Charitable Foundation
A House Half-Built
Written by Roy
Romanow, a former Premier, Commissioner on the Future of Health Care in