VIPIRG past events – 2006

Dec 1	Women Confronting Imperialism: Cultural Resistance to Globalization & Colonialism Speakers: Chiinuuks and Cecilia Santiago Vera, as well as Mujeres por la Dignidad (Women for Dignity) participating via a video message Chiinuuks, a Nuu-chah-nulth woman, activist and mother who has been involved in Community politics for 12 years. She is currently completing her MA in the Indigenous Governance program at UVIC. Along with her daughter Muhwa and partner Darren she is one of the organizers of the Stop the Violence march in the Nuu-chah-nulth territories. Cecilia Santiago Vera is a social psychologist from Chiapas, Mexico. Her work is focused primarily on gender and multi-cultural studies and strengthening the community. She has worked with the displaced population, especially with women survivors of the Acteal massacre, people in prison, and indigenous communities that live in violent contexts. Cecilia collaborates on the Psychological Project in Chiapas, a Mexican NGO that works to develop psychological interventions in populations experiencing human rights violations to take back the resources of the community. Cecilia’s presentation will be translated to English by a Mexico-US Solidarity Network staff person. Mujeres por la Dignidad (Women for Dignity) is a cooperative of several hundred Zapatista indigenous weavers in Chiapas, Mexico. Beautiful hand-made textiles were for sale to benefit and solidarity organizing in the US. Co-sponsored by UVic Women's Centre, Central America Support Committee, Building Bridges with Chiapas, Mexico Solidarity Network, UVSS Armed With Understanding Series, UVic Women's Studies Deparment, Anti Violence Project, Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Working Group, and VIPIRG.
Oct 11	Haiti - “We Must Kill the Bandits” Back by popular demand, with a new riveting documentary, independent journalist Kevin Pina tells the story of human rights violations by the Canadian-backed coup regime and the Haitian people's heroic struggle to regain their democracy. Presentation followed by discussion on the situation in Haiti today. Donations to The Haiti Information Project. Organized by the Victoria Peace Coalition. Co-sponsors: VIPIRG, Students Against War, and the Central American Support Committee.
Oct 8	Commemorating Che Guevara On October 8, 1967, Argentinian doctor Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna, one of the leaders of the Cuban revolution, was captured and executed by US-directed Bolivian troops. His writing and actions continue to influence many people today. Join us to commemorate his life. The evening will feature a showing of The Motorcycle Diaries, a film adaptation of Che's memoirs of the adventures he and best friend Alberto Granado experienced while crossing South America by motorcycle in the early 1950s. The film is a moving portrayal of the Che's awakening of political consciousness from his witnessing of exploitation and injustice. Co-sponsored by the Goods for Cuba Campaign and VIPIRG
Sep 17	Climate Action Tour Want to take action on global warming? Here's a chance to impact federal government policy! The BC Sustainable Energy Association and VIPIRG are hosting the Victoria stop of a national tour to collect public input about a climate change emission plan. The evening will include information about climate change and Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, followed by discussion and input from participants on what Canada should be doing to avoid the impending global warming crisis. A summary of public input will be presented to Prime Minister Stephen Harper later this year. For more information visit http://www.climatetour.ca Co-sponsored by the BC Sustainable Energy Association & VIPIRG
Sep 17	Film - The Revolution Will not be Televised Hugo Chávez, elected president of Venezuela in 1998, is a folk hero loved by his nation's working people. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, the Venezuelan people demanded his return. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, filmed and directed by Kim Bartley & Donnacha O'Brian, is a unique document about political muscle and an extraordinary portrait of Hugo Chávez. Co-sponsors: Victoria in Solidarity with Venezuela & VIPIRG
Jul 22	Siege of Gaza and Lebanon Speaker: Jon Elmer Jon Elmer spoke about his work in Gaza and the current situation there and in Lebanon. Elmer is an independent Canadian photographer and writer whose work has recently appeared in Z Magazine, the Journal of Palestine Studies, The Progressive, This Magazine, and The NewStandard. Co-sponsors: Victoria Peace Coalition, VIPIRG
Jul 21	Canada in Afghanistan: Testing ground for the new imperial foreign policy Speakers: Anthony Fenton and Jon Elmer Independent journalists Anthony Fenton and Jon Elmer facilitated an evening of discussion on the meaning of Canada's invasion of southern Afghanistan, and the economic interests underlying Canada's increasingly aggressive foreign policy. Anthony Fenton is an independent journalist whose research has taken him to post-coup Haiti and Venezuela, while Jon Elmer has reported extensively from the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the Al-Aqsa intifada and Israel's "disengagement" from Gaza. Fenton and Elmer are currently completing a book about Canada's intervention in Afghanistan (Fernwood, 2006). Co-sponsors: Victoria Peace Coalition, VIPIRG
Jun 28	Boycotting for peace & justice: A workshop for activists Facilitators: Peter Golden and Theresa Wolfwood, with special guest Pol D'Huyvetter, Belgian spokesperson for Boycott Bush campaign Boycotts are an important form of social action with proven results. Using the global boycotts of Coca-Cola and corporations supporting war in Iraq as examples, participants discussed ideas and strategies for boycotts and also "buycotts" – promotion of fair trade products. Workshop report (includes boycott suggestions and resources) Co-sponsors: Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, Victoria Central America Support Committee, VIPIRG
Jun 22	Get out of my space! Stopping the next arms race Guest speakers: Bruce Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space; Richard Sanders, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade Bruce and Richard led an interactive discussion about activism and effective organizing against the militarization of space. While Canada publicly opposes weapons in space and has said "no" to missile defence, Canada's hidden involvement in US missile defence is supported by both corporate and taxpayer funding. Co-sponsors: Victoria Peace Coalition, VIPIRG, Victoria Chapter of the Council of Canadians
Jun 18	Standing up to the generals: Human rights in Burma Speaker: Charm Tong, Shan Women's Action Network As a child, Charm Tong was separated from her family and forced to flee Burma to escape military repression and violence. When she was 17 years old, Charm testified before the UN Commission on Human Rights on the situation of people in Shan State. At the age of 20, Charm founded The School for Shan State Nationalities Youth (SSSNY) in Thailand, which works to empower and build the capacity of students to become leaders in their communities, and co-founded Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), which works to address violence against refugee women, trafficking of women, and education services for the children of Shan migrants. Sixty-five people came to UVic to hear Charm speak about the current human rights situation in Burma, the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, the status of Shan refugees, and recent increases in military activity and forced relocations relating to planned dams on the Salween River. International actions to support peace in Burma were discussed. Co-sponsors: VIPIRG, Inter Pares, Social Responsibility Council of First Unitarian Church, UVic Unitarian Club, Global Village Store, Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation
Jun 17	Decolonize * Educate * Resist An Indigenous & anarchist community gathering on Coast Salish Territories – Potluck, speakers, and discussion Co-sponsors: Black Raven Educational Society, VIPIRG Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Working Group, Goin' Coastal, Indigenous Governance Program, Food Not Bombs
Jun 8	Nuu-chah-nulth community march slideshow & presentation Speakers: Chiinuuks and Na’cha’uaht Report from march organized by young Nuu-chah-nulth people and supporters through all of the Nuu-chah-nulth territories to raise awareness and to announce a collective intent to stop the violence in our nations. The marchers visited all 15 of the Nuu-chah-nulth nations on Vancouver Island in May. The march was inspired by the initial efforts of the Tla-o-qui-aht women in 2005. Co-sponsors: Stop the Violence NCN organizers and VIPIRG Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Working Group
Jun 6	Clearing the air on climate change: The environmental impacts of accelerating tar sands development Speaker: Elizabeth May Part of a national tour about the alarming environmental consequences of the rapid expansion of commercial mining of the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta. In addition to the destruction of boreal forests, bogs, and rivers from open-pit mining, each barrel of tar sands oil produces three times as much greenhouse gases as conventionally produced oil. By 2015, up to 97 million tonnes of greenhouse gases will come from the tar sands alone. What are the implications of Canada's refusal to meet the terms of the Kyoto Protocol? Co-sponsors: Victoria chapter of the BC Sustainable Energy Association, VIPIRG
Apr 28-30	The Commons Conference: An academic-community event on privatization and the public domain With the privatization of health care, the expansion of copyright and plant breeders’ rights, the contracting out of public services, the granting of corporate monopoly access to forests and water, the proliferation of private police and security forces, the corporatization of the university, and attacks on employee unionization drives at workplaces across the country, serious ethical questions are posed to Canadian citizens regarding the meaning and content of the “commons”, the public good. The Commons Conference aimed to be both a tool for popular education on the issues of privatization and the public domain, and also an opportunity for activists and academics to discuss contemporary meanings of the concept of the commons. Co-sponsors: Forum on Privatization and the Public Domain, VIPIRG, Polis Project on Ecological Governance
Apr 12	Six Nations solidarity picket In February, Rotinoshon'non:we (Haudenosaunee/"Iroquois") people and supporters began reclaiming Six Nations land illegally sold by the colonial government to Henco Industries for a luxury housing development. In response the Ontario government threatened to invade and forcibly remove Six Nations people from their lands. Across Turtle Island, Indigenous people and non-Indigenous supporters organized solidarity actions. In Victoria 40 people gathered at the downtown Canada Revenue office, first handing out 300 leaflets to passers-by to raise public awareness about the siege and then entering the building and occupying the lobby of the taxation office for an hour while Indigenous participants spoke out about anti-colonial struggles across Turtle Island. Co-sponsors: VIPIRG Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Working Group, No-One is Illegal-Victoria, Black Raven collective
Mar 22	Research symposium: Provisioning, work, and communities Presenters: Provisioning: Conceptualising the work of individual women and groups of women Marge Reitsma-Street, Professor Studies in Policy and Practice and Catherine van Mossel, Wedge Project Co-ordinator Denied Assistance: Closing the front door on welfare in BC Bruce Wallace, Research Coordinator, VIPIRG Performance-based funding: Impacts on the mission, policies and practices of a women’s community organization in a western Canadian city Corinne Lowen, Sociology student; Board Member, Bridges for Women Society Discussant: Mehmoona Moosa-Mitha, Associate Professor, School of Social Work Co-sponsors: Research Initiatives for Social Change Unit in the UVic School of Social Work, UVic Studies in Policy and Practice, VIPIRG
Mar 13-16	fACT: festival for Action in CommuniTies The Festival for Action in CommuniTies (fACT) consisted of 14 workshops, community forums, performances, and film screenings over 3 days, focusing on active engagement of students in their communities. fACT was co-organized by the UVic Women’s Centre, Access UVic, Armed with Understanding, VIPIRG, the UVic Native Students’ Union, and the UVic Equity and Human Rights Office. fACT events included: hip-hop and spoken word performances workshops on biodiesel production, DIY bike repair, silkscreening, basics of sign language, and making medicines from local herbs a screening of Living Room, a film that explores the politics of space and what it means to have a community space a community forum on Indigenous resistance to destruction of WSANEC and St’at’imc lands, organized by VIPIRG's Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Working Group
Mar 2	Israel's ‘disengagement’: A view from Gaza Speaker: Jon Elmer After six months in the Middle East, photojournalist Jon Elmer came to Victoria to discuss the Gaza ‘disengagement’ and the shifting dynamics of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Elmer is an independent Canadian photographer and writer whose work has recently appeared in the Journal of Palestine Studies, The Progressive, This Magazine, and The NewStandard. Co-sponsors: UVic Student Society Armed with Understanding lecture series, VIPIRG, Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, Kevin & Georgina Neish
Feb 25	Socially-based poetry workshop Facilitator: Tom Wayman Tom Wayman, the "poet of work", graduated with a degree in English from UBC in 1966 and went on to attain his MFA from the University of California at Irvine in 1968. He then worked as a labourer in various industries, and the workplace is a central thematic concern of his poetry. He now teaches at the University of Calgary. His most recent book of poetry is entitled The Colours of the Forest. Co-sponsors: Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, VIPIRG
Feb 20	The Leech and the Earthworm As part of February's Social Justice Film Series, VIPIRG's Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Working Group co-sponsored a screening and dialogue around the documentary The Leech and The Earthworm. In the film, “Indigenous peoples voice their views on Western science, its vision of a genetically engineered future, and its deep links with corporate profits and globalization. The Leech and the Earthworm is a journey that combines passionate critiques of a future threatened by genetic engineering, and shares living alternatives to a globalized monoculture, with stunning visuals and music from around the world. The Leech and the Earthworm is a provocative film that inspires us to ask serious questions of the collective illusion we call ‘progress’.”
Feb 8	Wal-Mart: The high cost of low price Showing of documentary on the story behind the low prices at Wal-Mart.
Feb 3	Disposable women: Connecting the dots – From Mexico to Canada Featured presenters: Macrina Càrdenas de Alarcon: Legislative Coordinator, Mexico Solidarity Network, Washington, DC Maxine Matilpi: Kwakwaka'wakw, Director of the Academic and Cultural Support Program, UVic Faculty of Law Dr. Laura Parisi: Assistant Professor, UVic Women's Studies Department Since 1993, an estimated four hundred women have been found murdered and mutilated in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Meanwhile, according to Canadian government statistics, Indigenous women are five times more likely of dieing in violent crimes than any other group. In both countries, this violence has been met with stark indifference by police and government authorities. These three panelists will each address the situations of gender violence in Ciudad Juárez, western Canada and the similarities and economic links that make this a transnational problem. Co-sponsors: Armed With Understanding Lecture Series, World University Service of Canada, VIPIRG, UVic Women's Studies Department, UVic Faculty of Social Sciences
Jan-Feb	Researching for Change In VIPIRG's annual Researching for Change workshop series, experienced researchers teach the "how to" of community-based research approaches, methods, ethics, and tactics. In 2006 VIPIRG offered 6 workshops: Assessing government records: FOIs and more Collaborative research with women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Transforming community practice Mapping your home place: A workshop to introduce community mapping On-line corporate research Indigenous methodology