CELEBRATING: SHARA ROSEN

(As with all entries, if you are pressed for time you may scroll down to the WHAT CAN YOU DO section.)

As can be said about  virtually all civically/politically active people I know, Shara’s family was a huge influence in her development as a community worker. 

My parents (of blessed memory) were the perfect role models.  Our home was always open to strangers who spent many a holiday feast with us.  My mom was active in the school PTA and numerous Jewish women’s groups.  My dad worked six days a week but was an essential participant in my elementary school's annual bazaar - he was in charge of the clothing section - he had been in retail clothing sales.

 Shara’s first conscious memories of being involved in community service were from when she was about nine years old.  She joined a Jewish youth group called Habonim  that:

…taught us the merits of social democracy where all citizens are valued and assured by the state a life of dignity, education, healthcare and free from poverty.

She remained an active member of Habonim for ten years. 

 Over the years, Shara has been active in a number of non-profit groups, both here ( B'Nai Brith Youth), and the Health Action Committee, and overseas (Senegal), as a volunteer with American Jewish World Service .  Presently she is on the Board and a number of committees of Project Genesis , and she is the founding member and President of Fondation Sénégal Santé Mobile (FSSM) - you can visit their website by clicking  here .

When I asked Shara what had led her to found FSSM, she replied as follows:

"Several years ago, my husband a Senegalese man I met while in Senegal,  got off the phone with his family and he was crying.  His 12 year old niece had just passed away having been wrongly diagnosed with  malaria  instead of yellow fever.  The treatments are different and so she did not make it.  I told him at that time that we who are privileged have to do something.  Especially since both of these diseases are endemic in the country and it should be very routine to get a proper diagnosis.  A few years later the Fondation Senegal Santé Mobile was established - 2009 and in 2010 we received our Revenue Canada Charities status and began our work in earnest." 

The combination of  a strong sense of social responsibility and the personal tragedy of her niece mobilized Shara to take action. 

I realize that there is a great need in Canada as well, but my experience in Senegal has shown me that even the most needy here are in better shape than there [Senegal]. This is because most of our basic health care needs are provided by our government.

FSSM was founded to “…provide basic primary healthcare to under-served populations in Senegal.”  At present, there have been two shipments of basic medications and diabetes monitoring equipment to the community health centre (known as Post de santé) in the town Gorom 1.  Serving roughly ten villages and between 40,000 and 60,000 villages, this Post de santé is critically important.

 FSSM is presently in the process of planning a Gala evening of multicultural food, parables, and music, with all proceeds going to support a maternity and birthing centre – recently built in Gorom 1.  Shara’s goals as President of FSSM is “…to raise enough money to provide these, and eventually other village populations, with the basic healthcare they now lack.”

(These planning sessions are always comfortable, replete with wonderful food, and often include the  non-human 'member' of the committee.)

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1.       Donate to the  Brick by Brick   campaign of FSSM, either as part of your regular donations or as a gift to another.

2.       If you are in the Montreal area, buy a ticket to the Gala, to be held on Oct 26, 2011, from 18h00-22h00 (place to be determined).  You can buy tickets by contacting FSSM at 514-369-8607, or get more information at their website .

3.       Think about some injustice you’ve experienced

4.       Do a bit of research and see if there are any groups dealing with this issue

5.       If there are, donate time and/or money.  Educate others.

6.       If there aren’t, do some research and start your own group.

CELEBRATING: DANIEL BONIN

"Doing is a quantum leap from imagining."  Barbara Sher

The goal of the “Celebrating…” blog entries is to celebrate social/political involvement, and to present a range of people and groups.  The views expressed may or may not be representative of your opinions, or of mine, but the goal here is to illustrate the many ways people get involved, and to encourage others to become more active. 

As always, if pressed for time skip ahead to the WHAT YOU CAN DO section.

Daniel Bonin’s earliest memories of social and political involvement consist of raising money for different charities, and of church involvement. 

Elders, whether they be my mother, my godparents, my father, or various member of the community often encouraged me to help others and  to make the world a better place, even if it was through simple or little acts.  One of the lessons I remember the most from when I was a child is that I should never ‘hide my light under a bushel’, and I’ve always had a strong need for social justice.

Over the last decade, this need has been shaped by personal loss.  In 2003, Daniel lost a long battle for custody of his daughter.  He has not heard from her since.

His long struggle with the court system focused his interest in social activism and social justice on gender bias within the family court system.  Constitutionally, laws must be applied equally to all, regardless of gender.  In Daniel’s case (and in many other custody cases), the laws are applied with a clear bias towards women, and with the apparent assumption that women are better parents.  The loss of his daughter galvanized Daniel, and over the last ten years or so, he has worked to raise awareness of this bias, as well as sexism in general. 

Dealing with the emotional fall out of his loss, Daniel sought support.  “Not much was available for fathers in 2003.  Most social services revolved around women and their needs.” After much searching, he found a small group of men who met to talk of their loss, but  Daniel felt a need for action on the matter, not just emotional support.  Through contacts with the first group, he was lead to another, action-oriented group of fathers. 

The Quebec chapter of Fathers 4 Justice (F4J) was small, but vocal.  In May 2005, they took part in a North American-wide series of protests.  The Montreal chapter ‘pirated’ billboards overlooking the TransCanada Highway, hanging banners where passing motorists could see them.  Additionally, thousands of live crickets were released into court houses within Quebec, and across the Canada (see here and here) in protest of unfair treatment in the family court system.

Daniel even climbed the cross on Mount Royal, disguised as Spiderman in order to draw attention to the plight of fathers.  

(A long tradition of using Superhero disguises exists within the Fathers 4 Justice movement see here  and here).

This resulted in others climbing various structures in and around the city, to draw the same attention to the problem, creating a snowball effect.

Within two months, the Montreal chapter received between 1,600 and 2,000 calls from people asking for help in dealing with the family court system.  This small group was not capable of dealing with all these requests; it was simply more than they could handle. 

Along with these requests, the publicity generated by their public protests resulted in pressure from groups (some of whom were quite powerful) – groups who saw F4J as being anti-woman and sexist, rather than pro-family and anti-sexist. These groups:

…branded us as the opposite of feminists, which I personally believe was contrary to what I believe our movement was – a movement which would liberate women from their pedestal of being the perfect mother who can work and take care of the children.  The only thing F4J wanted was to have men be seen as equals in their parenting skills and abilities, in accordance with Quebec’s Legal System.

The years of “…breaking our heads against a pretty solid wall of ignorance, misandry, propaganda and legal bigotry…” took its toll on many members of F4J, including Daniel. He cut back on activism and protesting for a few years, choosing instead to recharge his batteries and rebuild his emotional reserves.   

Now, having suffered eight years without any contact from my child, I realize that while attitudes might be slowly trickling forward, there is still a lot that needs to be done, and a lack of leadership.  The groups that presently exit for fathers, or male victims of domestic violence, are under the financial boot of the Ministre de Famille and the Condition Feminine, government organisations that seem to have excluded the idea of having masculine or paternal representation within their organisations, leaving the small and very few men’s groups and support systems to be constantly on guard not to offend…

Daniel is now beginning to become active in the movement once more, choosing to focus his attention on a new group: Fathers and the Family Action Collective (FATFAC). The seed for FATFAC was planted by former members of F4J who felt that their work was important and necessary in order to maintain some sort of presence in the public eye, and to sustain momentum in public education regarding this issue. (F4J Montreal is presently without real organisation or form, and FATFAC is interested in a different form of protest – more subdued, more inclusive.) While he still considers himself a “…T-shirt wearing member of F4J…” (referring to the F4J T-shirt he wears often, and intentionally, to public protests in order to draw attention to the plight of fathers), Daniel is branching out, and ready to begin to learn the skills necessary to lead FATFAC.


Their first event is a Candle Light Vigil to be held in honour of Fathers Who Care, and for fathers and extended family members who wish to take part in memory of lost children.  This event will take place Saturday, June 18, 2011 from 20h00-22h30, in Phillips Square, Montreal (McGill Metro, St. Catherine’s St. across from The Bay.)  All are welcome. Bring your own candle. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. If you are in the area, drop in and take part in the Candle Light Vigil in honour of Fathers Who Care
2. Think about personal experiences that have left you feeling as though an injustice has been done
3. Find like-minded groups that try to correct this type of injustice
4. If you find them, donate money or time to the cause
5. If you don't find groups that deal with this issue, do some research and start your own group.

All are

ELIMINATION OF THE PER-VOTE SUBSIDY

As always, if you are pressed for time you can scroll down to the WHAT YOU CAN DO section.

Nope.  No pictures this entry, and a rather serious subject.  Pretty long entry, too.   I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read this piece as I do believe that it outlines a hugely important alteration to Canadian Federal politics – one that may greatly affect our future.

Stephen Harper was very clear during his recent campaign:  if he were to be elected with a majority, one of the first things he would do would be to eliminate the per-vote subsidy.  This is the subsidy which each party gets at a rate of about $2 per vote.   There are those who welcome this change. They say that this subsidy ‘rewards’ frequent elections (ibid.)  They say that as it costs $30 million dollars a year, and that in fact it penalizes taxpayers for voting, as an increase of votes results in higher expenses to taxpayers. 

$30 million dollars is a lot of working capital.  Limits to the amount donated to a political party by a corporation or union were announced in May of 2002 by Jean Chrétien, in order to reduce unfair influence of our representatives, and the per-vote subsidy introduced. These changes took place Jan. 1, 2004.  Stephen Harper amended these changes “…by allowing individual business or unions to contribute a maximum of $1,000 to a single election candidate, or, collectively, several candidates during any federal election…” (ibid.)   The obvious solution to party fund reduction created by the elimination of the per-vote subsidy is an increase to the present limit to party donations allowed by an individual or a business, and a greater expenditure of time dedicated by MPs and party leaders to fundraising, instead of governing.

Those who support the elimination of the subsidy argue that the Conservative Party has the most to lose, as it had the highest subsidy.  Prior to May 2, 2011, the annual subsidy breakdown was as follows:

Conservative Party         $10.4 million

Liberal Party                   $7.3 million

NDP                               $5 million

Bloc Quebecois               $2.8 million

Finally, this line of reasoning states that the public will compensate for per-vote subsidies by donating directly to whichever political party it deems most representative of its point of view, thereby creating a truly democratic system.

I have tried to fairly represent this perspective here, but I clearly hold the opposing point of view.

The ability to contribute financially to a political party is restricted to those who have the disposable income to do so.  If one is poor, struggling to pay rent, or visiting a food bank in order to feed one’s family, charitable donations of any kind are impossibility.  Single parents, the elderly, unemployed, underemployed, and the homeless are all groups that would have difficulty financially supporting a party that they feel is representative of their needs.  The reality is that the upper middle-class (while it exists), the wealthy, and corporations will be the primary sponsors of political parties, and the inevitable influence (even if meant benevolently) will result in unfair representation.

$30 million dollars a year seems like a huge sum of money – and it is.  It needs to be considered within the context of the Canadian annual budget, though, in order to properly evaluate it.  Let’s look at just one project that was funded by the Federal government last year. 

Waterfront Toronto (formerly known as The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation) was given a total of $61 million over three quarters during 2010 in order to build a park and housing (including social housing).  This breaks down as follows: 

2010/07/29 = $21,125,000

2010/11/04 = $6,000,000

2010/04/06 = $9,800,000

                     $7,600,000

                     $4,086,000

                     $4,749,333

                     $8,588,055

– You do the math!

 This project sounds innovative, and God knows I think we need more green space.  Canada also needs more social housing, and this project purports to provide  affordable social housing.  How much of the “affordable social housing” consists of low-income or subsidized housing is a question I cannot answer (after several emails over the course of a week-and-a-half to the company, which were not answered).  A significant issue with this project is the  governance of public funds  received by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (involved in the project, and responsible for building social housing on the site) – twice receiving scathing reports from Auditor General Jeff Griffiths for misuse of funds.  One report summed up the situation as follows:

“…imagine how the corporation’s 164,000 tenants —

many of them poverty-stricken — feel living with leaking roofs,

mould [sic], cockroaches and bed bugs, rusted plumbing,

bad wiring, crumbling balconies and crime.

     Imagine living in a public housing unit like that and learning

that corporation staff were being treated to pedicures

and massages, spa water therapy, $40,000 to $50,000

Christmas parties, a boat cruise, gift cards and luxury chocolates.”

(For more articles on this scandal, you can link  here, here, and here.)

I don’t want to get too far off topic.  This blog is concerned with the elimination of per-vote subsidy. I did want to put the annual $30 million cost to taxpayers into perspective, though.  This happens to be a particularly volatile example, but it does illustrate how quite a bit of grant money can be misspent and misused.  Is $30 million dollars, within this context, used to help level the playing field between rich and poor, between established and disenfranchised within a democracy really that much money?  People often confuse “democracy” (in our case, a Westminster-Style Parliamentary Democracy  with “capitalism”. The per-vote subsidy was a method of supporting equal representation, regardless of corporate or individual income status. 

Again, clearly I support the per-vote subsidy, and feel that it is worth fighting for.  However, I have tried to be fair and present the opposing viewpoint.  No matter what your stance, this issue is worth taking a bit of action and writing a few letters and emails.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

So, the list of what you can do is actually pretty short.

1.    Think about this issue.  Do a bit of reading, or if you are inclined, a bit of your own research.

2.    Decide which side of the fence you stand on.

3.    Discuss this issue with others, and inform them of both sides of the argument.

4.    If you are against the elimination of the per-vote subsidy, go to gopetition.com and sign their online petition. If you are for the elimination, no petition signing is necessary as Harper has already stated that the elimination of the subsidy will be phased in.

5.    Write to your MP, to Stephen Harper, and to Jack Layton, letting each of them know how you feel about this issue.  Let them know that you have signed the online petition.  You can find your MP by linking here,  and you can email Harper  and Layton. You can also write a ‘real’ letter and mail it (postage free) care of:

                              The House of Commons
                              Ottawa, Ontario
                              Canada
                              K1A 0A6

Thank you for taking the time to read this extra-long entry.  The next two entries will be shorter, and will deal with people who have used personal experience as a galvanizing force to make change. 

For the Love of Books

(As always, if pressed for time, feel  free to scroll down to the List of Things You can Do)

For the Love of Books

It was with great sadness that I heard the news of the fire in Slave Lake last week.  Losing one’s home and family heirlooms must be horrible, but what I found most heart-rending was the loss of the town’s library. 

Books, for me, have always been priceless.  They are a stepping stone, an escape, and a door to another world .  Libraries were pivotal places for me when I was growing up.  No matter how often we moved, my mother always made sure I had a library card and weekly trips to the local library.  Even when I was on vacation, visiting my grandparents in another city for a few weeks every summer, I was able to visit a library and borrow books. 

These days, libraries serve many needs.  Books can be borrowed, along with DVDs, and CDs (even really old ones you can’t find in music stores without difficulty). 

There are large and well-funded libraries that provide community lectures,  computers, internet service, places to watch movies for a few hours, and comfortable places to sit and read.

There are libraries with grand buildings and large sculpture, and smaller libraries with tiny budgets which can’t even afford to keep their doors open for full-time hours.

 

  There are even libraries that lend cake pans. Good libraries serve their community, provide access to knowledge and art, and usually a provide a little more. 

However, with the formation of online communities, libraries and book-sharing no longer needs to take place within a centralized building.  I don’t think libraries will ever, or should ever, be replaced.  However, there are many ways that one can take part in sharing knowledge and art, and in showing one’s appreciation of books. 

In celebration of International Towel Day tomorrow, I invite you all to consider the following list of options.  I would also encourage you to keep the Slave Lake Library in mind when discarding old books (see below).

So, here’s my list of things you can do:

1. Help support the rebuilding of the  Slave Lake Library http://www.slavelakelibrary.ab.ca/ 
2. Start a book club httpod/bookclubresources/ht/start_book_club.htm
3. Join an online book exchange http://bookmooch.com/
4. Release books into the wild http://www.bookcrossing.com/ 

5.  Wear a towel tomorrow in solidarity with other book lovers.

6.  Get in touch with your local library and see what you can do.

As always, feel free to let me know what actions you took, and I’ll celebrate them on my blog (anonymously or not – your choice).

HUNGER

(You can skip down to the action part of this blog if you are pressed for time!)

HUNGER

(I’m not going to deal with measures to curb poverty and root causes of Canadian hunger here, as anti-poverty measures are a topic of a future blog.) 

Hunger as it exists here, tends to be hidden.  The hungry faces of the homeless are a familiar site to those of us living in a city, but they don’t represent the ‘typical’ hungry Canadian.  Being hungry, I mean really hungry, isn’t something that is spoken of in polite company.  Hunger is often seen as a barometer of social fitness.  Somehow being hungry is far too often seen as a type of Darwinian consequence of being unworthy, lazy, or (to use the vernacular), ‘a loser’.  Hunger, therefore, is often a ‘dirty little secret’.

Food Banks

Metaphorical hunger, and its place in homilies is about as close as most Canadians come to experiencing real hunger.  However, the number Canadians who do know hunger is growing.  Some of the statistics may surprise you.  Loss of full-time jobs and the increasing number of working poor means that the employed now comprise the third largest group of those served at food banks.  (The continued growth of low-wage economy will only increase these numbers.) 

Not surprisingly, families with children make up more than 50%, those receiving disability incomes make up the second largest group, and those on welfare make up the largest. (Food Banks Canada, About Hunger) 

Along with the growth of low-wage, part-time and contract positions instead of full-time and permanent positions, government cutbacks to many of the social safety nets in Canada over the years has resulted in huge increases in the numbers of people seeking help at food banks - between 2009 and 2010 Manitoba saw a 21% increase, Saskatchewan a 20% increase, P.E. I. a 13% increase, Quebec a 12% increase, Nova Scotia an 11% increase, and Alberta a 10% increase. (All statistics taken from Food Banks Canada – see side bar for sources.) In 2010, Food Banks Canada calculated that 7.2% of all Canadian adults were assisted by food banks in a typical month.  

Food banks, for many, are a last resort.  I can tell you from personal experience (in my student days) that visiting a food bank for the first time takes a certain level of desperation, and most people struggle for a long, long time before they get to the point of being desperate enough to enter those doors.  By the time you get there, you are ashamed, secretive, and very very grateful for what you receive. Food banks are, for many, a last resort.

 The challenges facing food banks are daunting, however.  The statistics published by Food Banks Canada (Food Banks Canada, Facts and Statistics) last year are as follows:

·        27% of food banks lack adequate funding

·        31% don’t have enough food to meet demand

·        50% have been forced to reduce their average ‘basket’

·        57% had to increase the usual amount of food purchased in order to meet the need

·        Almost half of all Canadian food banks have no paid staff

·        15% are having a problem finding enough volunteers to meet daily needs

Those frequenting food banks are only one segment of the underfed Canadian population.  Statistics are hard to come by, for obvious reasons.

What You Can Do

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”

Mother Teresa

The fact is that you, as an individual, will most likely be unable to eliminate world hunger, and it’s unlikely that you will be able to eradicate hunger in North America, or to change someone’s life so profoundly that you will stamp out the context that gave rise to his/her hunger.  You do, however, have the capability of wiping out hunger for one person, for a few hours.  This is not insignificant. 

The following is a list of ten things that you can do to make a small difference in a hungry person’s life.  I challenge all of you to do at least three over the next two weeks.  Write to me (auntiapathy@gmail.com), tell me what you did, and how it went. Send me your suggestions, too.   I’ll publish your story (anonymously if you want), celebrate your involvement, and help encourage others to act as well.  So, here’s my list:

Ten Things You Can Do Over the Next Month to Make A Difference:

1.      Feed a homeless person:

A.      Buy a homeless person lunch (or breakfast, or supper).

B.      Pack an extra lunch before you leave the house, and give it to a homeless person. (Hint: many homeless people have dental problems, so try to avoid apples, raw carrots, and other ‘hard’ food.  Also avoid foods that people are commonly allergic to, like peanuts, strawberries, shellfish, etc.)

2.      Donate some food to a food bank:

A.      Buy some extra non-perishable food during your weekly shopping, and drop it in the box designated for food banks.  Most grocery stores in this area have them. (Dabbler.ca, June 2, 2008, estimated that if only 3% of Canadians bought one can of food a month and donated it, it would significantly reduce hunger in Canada.)

B.      If your local grocery store does not have a box designated for donations to food banks, talk to your store manager and ask him/her to create one and make arrangements to have the food dropped off once a week.

3.      Donate an hour or more of your time to your local food bank.

4.      Donate some money to your local food bank.

5.      Think outside the box:

A.      Many universities have vouchers for grocery stores that they give to students when they are needy, many churches have parishioners who are experiencing difficult times, and most of us know someone who is struggling.  Buy vouchers, or bake a casserole and drop it off (and be sensitive to the stigma attached to being hungry!).

B.      Invite a friend or acquaintance who is underemployed for dinner (ditto, above). 

C.      Make arrangements to plant a bit extra in your summer garden, and then plan to drop off the surplus food at a food bank.

D.     Better yet, plan to drop off the extra with a local family you know who might need it.

6.      Start inform other people, and help bring more awareness to the issue.

7.      Sign up for an e-newsletter with Food Banks Canada

8.      June 5 is National Hunger Awareness Day.  Do something to commemorate it.

9.      Write or email your local MP, and the Prime Minister, asking them to do something concrete to deal with hunger.  If you don’t know the name or contact information of your local MP, you can find it here.  You can write to Stephen Harper, or any member of parliament, AND MAIL IT WITHOUT A STAMP, at:   Name of Member of Parliament

House of Commons

Ottawa, Ontario

Canada

K1A 0A6

10.  Get in touch with Food Banks Canada and find out how you can help:

Food Banks Canada

2150 Lakeshore Blvd. W

Toronto, Ontario

M8V 1A3

Tel: 416-203-9241

Toll free: 1-877-535-0958

Fax: 416-203-9244

E-mail: info@foodbankscanada.ca