All eyes on Toronto's violent encampment evictions
We condemn the violent evictions and brutal assault spearheaded by police and the City of Toronto on unhoused encampment residents as well as their neighbours and supporters. To learn more on how the City of Toronto has been ramping up their violent encampment eviction efforts, please read the reports on the clearing of the Lamport Stadium and the Alexandra Park encampments and keep following updates from the local Encampment Support Networks.
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Facebook Live Panel: Popular Power, People’s Movements and the Way Forward in Haiti
Join the Caribbean Solidarity Network today, on Wednesday, July 28 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. on Facebook Live to hear about how grassroots movements are organizing in Haiti to push for a popular alternative to the ongoing political crisis. We will also learn about Canada’s role in continually undermining Haitian democracy, and why Canada is always making things worse in Haiti.
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March for Truth and Justice
On Saturday, July 31 at 12 p.m. at 111 Wellington Street join the march on the Justice Department led by Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, Charlie Angus and local Elders as we take to the streets to demand an independent investigation into the residential "school" system.
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Prisoners’ Justice Day 2021 Vigil
On Tuesday, August 10 at 7 p.m., come together at Major Hill's Park for the Prisoners’ Justice Day Vigil to commemorate deaths in custody and demand justice for human rights abuses behind bars across Turtle Island and beyond.
To learn more about the history of Prisoners' Justice Day, please visit this website.
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Vote Housing Campaign to End Homelessness
The pandemic has exposed and exacerbated deep inequities in so-called Canada -- especially for historically marginalized communities. We know homelessness and housing need in this country were created by public policy. Heading into an upcoming federal election, with the power of our voice, our time, and our vote, we will change those policies and invest in safe, affordable housing. Visit the campaign website to learn more about their platform and pledge to VOTE HOUSING.
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Sign the Open Letter: Access to Healthcare in Ontario’s Provincial Jails and Prisons
The health and lives of prisoners in Ontario is being put at risk by subpar healthcare. Sign the open letter demanding that prisoners be provided with decent living conditions and healthcare.
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For Indigenous community members requiring support or assistance in this time
For residential school survivors, their families and to those dealing with intergenerational traumas, you can reach The Indian Residential School Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066 or call the 24-Hour National Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419.
You can also call the Hope for Wellness toll-free help line at 1-855-242-3310, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or connect with a counsellor online. Telephone counselling services are also available in Cree, Ojibway, Inuktitut.
Children and youth can call the Native Youth Crisis Line at 1-877-209-1266.
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For Non-Indigenous folks:
In Kamloops, B.C. the remains of 215 Indigenous children, some as young as three years old, were found at the site of a former residential school -- at a school designed to systematically tear them away from their heritage, communities and way of life. Now, this number has risen to 1600+ children as more unmarked graves have been found at former residential schools since.
This is not a "dark chapter of our history". The effects of residential schools inform severe personal and intergenerational trauma still felt by many of our Indigenous community members to this day, while Canada continues to separate Indigenous children from their families under the guise of the foster and child welfare system.
Please read this non-exhaustive list of resources and actions you can take, this list of books and films according to age group, and continue to donate to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.
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Job & Volunteer Opportunities
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Got something to say? Contribute to the Leveller!
The Leveller is a left-leaning newspaper covering Carleton University, University of Ottawa, the city of Ottawa, and the wider world. They work to provide news and analysis in support of people everywhere who are fighting against all forms of oppression – among them, racism, sexism, homophobia, and capitalism. They are a volunteer project that pays in small honorariums.
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Millhaven Lifers' Liaison Group: Call for Volunteers
The Millhaven Lifers Liaison Group (MLLG) works to be a bridge between the community and prisoners serving life sentences at the Millhaven maximum security institution in Bath, Ontario, while supporting their eventual release and re-integration.
The MLLG has moved their collective efforts online through prison justice activism, developing information pamphlets, research, weekly correspondence to the incarcerated community, and planning prisoners justice day activities. Meetings take place once a month.
Interested in volunteering? Email mllgottawa@gmail.com for more information.
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Books 2 Prisoners: Moving Online
Books 2 Prisoners Ottawa sends free books to prisoners across Canada and the US, and responds to letters from prisoners. As an abolitionist group, they believe that education and human contact are important supports to the educational, vocational and personal development of those incarcerated.
Due to current conditions our meeting space has moved online.
If interested in getting involved email us at b2pottawa@gmail.com
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Looking for resources?
On the hunt for resources during COVID-19? Not sure where to look? From food/care packages and community care groups to supports for specific communities and relief funds, this list has you covered!
Check out this consolidated list of emergency resources and support services, and share widely!
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Check out our 'Community' and 'Financial' Instagram story highlights to be connected with COVID-19 resources in the broader Ottawa community and beyond.
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Mutual Aid Mondays
Every Monday on Instagram, we'll be making a post to boost community mutual aid requests. Check out this Google doc for links to where you can donate.
We encourage you to participate in the ongoing act of community re-distribution and reflect on ways you can sustainably budget for reparations and wealth redistribution.
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If you do not have money to give to these funds please still engage with these posts. Share widely, comment and pass it along to people who want to donate.
If you have a mutual aid request you'd like us to boost online, please message us on our social media or send us an email.
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Our Own Table: New programming series by and for Black folks
Interested in helping us create a lineup of learning, organizing and creative spaces, workshops and events by and for Black community members? More information to come on our social media and website.
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If you are a Black community member interested in planning or facilitating an event, or would like to help us set community guidelines ahead of this programming, please reach out to harar@opirgcarleton.org. We're excited to hear from you!
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Have an idea but need the funds to make it happen?
We're happy to help! If you need some money to help with organizing a community event, action, collective or initiative, send a funding request to admin@opirgcarleton.org to have it reviewed by our board.
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Restructuring OPIRG Carleton
Our organization is currently going through a restructuring and accountability process. If you have any suggestions, concerns, experiences or insight you would like to share with us as we undergo this process, please send an email to feedback@opirgcarleton.org. This email will be monitored by someone external to the OPIRG Carleton board and staff, and is currently overseen by Pascale Diverlus -- our current lead on organizational restructuring.
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Check out our new website!
We're so excited to share our new website with you! We have been working on making our online presence easier to navigate.
Thank you for your patience as we got it up and running. Feel free to let us know what you think.
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Sorry, we're closed! But we're still here for you.
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A reminder that the OPIRG Carleton office as well as the Carleton campus remain closed. If you're looking for information on resources or programming, or have any other questions, you can reach us via email at gowlene@opirgcarleton.org and harar@opirgcarleton.org.
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Did we miss something?
OPIRG Carleton is happy to advertise your virtual community event, webinars, workshops or campaigns related to environmental, economic and social justice.
Please send events to gowlene@opirgcarleton.org by Monday @ 6 PM to get your events and news in, but late submissions will be squeezed in if there's time. |
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