OPIRG Brock

OPIRG's new website - AtBrock.org

2012-01-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

OPIRG-Brock has a new amazing website found at OPIRG.AtBrock.org

Critical Mass St. Catharines! May'09

2009-06-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

Footage provided by Cogeco;s The Source of Critical Mass May Edition in St. Catharine's. Forty cyclists joined us for a ride through the city's downtown to raise awareness about cycling safety and enviro-friendly alternative transportation.

Critical Mass is a monthly community bicycle ride that seeks to raise awareness about cycling in our community. It is an act of community building, a rallying call for a city dedicated to sustainable transportation, and most importantly an opportunity to meet folk who love bikes!

Join us for the June Edition: June 26th, Montebello Park, 6pm!

Final Call for Justice

2009-01-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

Brock University’s Muslim Students Association with support from the St Catharine’s community welcomed Dennis Edney to Brock's campus for what they hoped would be the Final Call for Justice. Edney is currently Omar Khadr’s lawyer and has been for the past six years.

Khadr, at the age of 15, was captured by American forces following a lengthy firefight against militants in the village of Ayub Kheyl, Afghanistan. Upon capture, Khadr was transported to Guantanamo Bay where he has spent 6 years under detention charged with war crimes, and providing support to terrorism after allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier.

Lawyer, Dennis Edney’s lecture was of particular importance to Brock University as Khadr, born in Toronto, is a Canadian citizen, not only that but he is also the youngest prisoner held in Guantanamo Bay by the United States. With talks going around about the possible closure of Guantanamo Bay under the Obama administration, it is important to note that Khadr remains to be the only Western citizen remaining in the detention camp. Edney spoke of the importance of keeping pressure on the Harper administration, as Canada has on multiple occasions refused to seek extradition, or reparation despite the urgings of the Canadian Bar Association, as well as international organizations like Amnesty International, and UNICEF.

This was a timely lecture, as it is followed very closely by Khadr’s trail, which is today, January 19th. While most Americans will be out celebrating Martin Luther King Day and preparing for Barrack Obama’s inauguration, this court case will unfold in private. Opposition has been voiced, not only by thousands of Canadian citizens, but also by top UN officials, who have appealed to president-elect Barack Obama’s team, arguing it would set a bad president to prosecute a child soldier. Canada on this day has chosen once again to remain silent.

If one were to take anything for Mr. Edney’s lecture Thursday night, it would be to contact Prime Minister Harper, to flood him with calls and letters, and not give up until he is pressured into making a phone call, because that’s all it would take.

UNBOTTLE IT! Free Event!

2009-01-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

OPIRG is excited to welcome Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadian, and Sid Ryan, CUPE Ontario President, to Brock University as they tour 15 cities speaking about the politics of water and the corporatization of this public resource.

The bottled water industry has worked hard to undermine our faith in public water. The industry sells water - a shared public resource - for HUGE profits. It's time to get the facts!

Kick The Bottle
Tap into Public Drinking Water!

Friday January 16 at 7:00pm
Brock University
Thistle Building, Room TH247

New Staff At OPIRG Brock

2008-12-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

OPIRG Brock welcomes Julia Kerr as the new Organization, Research and Volunteer Coordinator, as Jen Coorsh finishes up her time with us. Please come and introduce yourself to Julia at the campus resource office in the Student Alumni Building, room 204, come the new year.

Julia comes to us from London Ontario, where she recently finished her MA in Women Studies and Feminist Research. With a strong background in the student movement and community activism, Julia is excited to begin organizing in St. Catharines. Julia's activist street cred! include coordinating the Women's Issues Network at UWO, over three years of membership with London's organic food co-operative, a long history of volunteerism with Oxfam Canada and great enthusiasm for grassroots radio.

Her current interests revolve around theories of participatory economics and society, the young Canadian feminist movement and provincial solidarity and community building.

As for Jen, she is wrapping up her BA in environmental studies and human geography and has hopes of moving to montreal come the spring. We will miss her greatly, but thankfully will still see her often at the resource centre and at OPIRG events.

Hope everyone is well, and enjoying a safe and pleasurable holiday

Do It Youself Collective T-Shirt Sugery

2008-11-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

T-Shirt Surgery
After a delicious vegetarian dinner at 10% off for crafty D.I.Y. folks, we started our second DIY Collective event at Strega Cafe. With options for no-sew projects, hand sewing and machine sewing, it was made easy for beginners. We chopped up second hand and slightly damaged t-shirts to create tube tops, t-shirt hybrids, patches and tanks. I had some examples from an earlier surgery session this week, including a knotted tube overlay and a pair of cotton cassette tape print underwear I made from a $2.00 t-shirt. I brought my t-shirt surgery bible along - Generation T: 101 ways to modify a shirt, to inspire. That book as well as this do it yourself session really make one realize how easy it can be to modify, customize and creatively re-use clothing. Hopefully we`ll do another one in the new year, and maybe venture out into the t-shirt rug, patchwork scarves and totes.
-Sheena Swirlz

National Day of Action on Bottled Water

2008-11-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

On November 17, 2008, the Bottled Water National Day of Action came to a close. During the week of November 10 to 14th students volunteered to promote awareness about bottled water and the issues that revolve around it, including the water industry itself, water privatization and the growing lack of access to free public tap water systems on university campuses around Canada. Volunteers gave out brochures during this week, as well as asking students to sign saying that they would not purchase water bottles anymore
On the day of action, the 17th, students created a chain of consumption that displayed empty plastic water bottles. The display had 70 bottled waters attached to it, outlining the amount of water bottles consumed by one person in North America each year. The chain of consumption was then walked through the halls with volunteers passing out brochures about the environmental, economic and health impacts of bottled water. This was a great way to get the word out about the water bottled industry since it was very noticeable and many students stopped to read the posters and brochures that were being passed out. Hopefully students at Brock will think before they buy a water bottle now!

For more information regarding the water bottled industry and the environmental and health issues please check out these websites located below:
www.insidethebottle.org
www.polarisinstitute.org

Caravan Against Canadian Torture

2008-11-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

On October 23rd, demonstrators dressed in orange jumpsuits with black hoods over their faces sat in the green space in front of Schmon Tower with a sign reading: "Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture". Activists bearing a chilling likeness to Guantanamo Bay detainees knelt with their hands behind their backs, faces down. The Caravan Against Canadian Involvement in Torture came to Brock University to share their experiences traveling across the country, educating communities about processes of rendition, policy and lack of transparency when it comes to torture related issues.

Although Canada has traditionally been no wallflower when it comes to supporting regimes that engage in the most brutal of human rights violations (whether politically or economically), its complicity in the torture of human beings has come into sharper focus in the years following 9/11/2001. The Canadian government is openly flouting its international and domestic legal obligations NEVER to be involved directly or indirectly in acts of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Some of the world's most vulnerable people are being abandoned in the name of "national security." Canada has consistently been criticized by the likes of the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups for the government's refusal to respect international laws governing the absolute prohibition on complicity in torture. And yet whenever there are efforts to determine the full extent of Canada's involvement -- with the intent of ending such behaviour -- they are generally shut down or held in secret.

As Manfred Nowak says, torture is democracy's antithesis. Whether it is the federal government's refusal to release documents about the torture of Canadian-captured detainees in Afghanistan; the holding of completely unaccountable secret inquiries into the torture of Canadian citizens; or the use of secret hearings and the lowest available standards of justice to deport people to torture, we see that the government's efforts to protect institutions involved in such heinous practices are actually undermining the principles of openness, fairness, and equality that are supposed to be hallmarks of democracy.

The Caravan To End Canadian Involvement in Torture follows in the path of long-distance journeys throughout history have played a key role in social justice struggles. In Canada, there have been cross-country caravans in solidarity with First Nations struggles, long-distance walks for refugee rights, freedom rides, the 2006 Freedom Caravan to End Secret Trials, and treks by train, such as the 1930s "On to Ottawa" anti-poverty mobilization. Such journeys are both political and spiritual pilgrimages, opportunities to get beyond the world of sound-bite politics and engage in dialogue at a slower pace.

DIY Collective 1st Gathering

2008-10-21T10:01:00.001-07:00

On October 14th, the newly formed OPIRG working group; the Do-It-Yourself Collective gathered for their first workshop which was all about paper art. People collaged, made magnets, bookmarks; really anything you could do with paper. A few new faces showed up to the event and contributed ideas for future workshops and discussions about how to foster DIY culture. All the DIY workshops include hand made crafts that you can take home right after the workshops. No skills are needed and there are little to no costs involved for the workshops.

The DIY Collective has an excellent line up of events including:

October 29th, 5pm: Jam Making Workshop - learn all the skills you will need to make jam and other basic preserving skills from experienced jam makers in the Niagara region. Limited supplies available. Fruit and jars will be provided, but to ensure that you have your own jar to take home, bring one with you.

November 5th, 5pm: Stuff Swap - you don't need to go to the store to get new stuff, you can get it from other people, who are giving it away for free; bring your stuff to trade with other people and go home with a new wardrobe and then some.

for location infomration contact OPIRG Brock.

Jeffery M. Smith at Brock

2008-10-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

International best selling author on the health risks of genetically engineered foods Jeffrey M Smith visited Brock University on Thursday, October 2nd. Smith has spent much of the past few years on the road as the Executive Director for the Institute of Responsible Technology a popular keynote speaker, has traveled to over 30 countries where he has been consulting with scientists and governments regarding the adverse health effects of genetically engineered foods.

Smith discussed some of the over “65 health risks of GMO and linked them to thousands of sick, sterile, and dead livestock, thousands of toxic and allergic reactions, damage to virtually every organ in virtually every system studied.” The Canadian and American governments have based their policy on false, inaccurate assumptions based on “industry sponsored studies that are designed to avoid finding those problems. There is more than enough evidence … overwhelming, irrefutable evidence right now that GM foods are inherently unsafe.”

Smith discussed how Dr. Arpad Pusztai conducted one of the most comprehensive studies done to date on the effects of GMO on mammals in 1996. Pusztai and his team of 20 scientists at the prestigious Rowett Institute in the United Kingdom received a 3 million dollar grant by the British government to create the new safety protocol to test new GMO foods. He found that the inherent process of genetic engineering was unsafe and created numerous health problem with the rats in his study within only ten days, including; potentially precancerous cell growth in the digestive track, smaller brains, livers and testicles, partial atrophy of liver and damage to the immune system. Dr. Pusztai with permission went on television to warn against consuming these products. After an alleged phone call from UK Prime Minister’s office Dr. Pusztai was fired after 35 years. His study was published in the Lancet Medical Journal in Vol. 354, Issue 9179 August 1999.

This prime example is one of the major reasons why European are very concerned about GMO foods. North American media conveniently gave little to no attention to Dr. Pusztai’s work. In fact Project Censored ranked this story the 7th most censored story in 2001. As European consumers became hostile to GMO foods, within a week of Dr. Pustai’s television appearance virtually all-major food companies including McDonalds, Nestlé, and Burger King in Europe promised that their products would be GMO free. However their North American brands would continue to use them.

Smith believes that the tipping point of GMO rejection in North America is coming within the next couple years, as the health risks become known. As some countries such as Peru, Ireland, trying to become the first GMO Free Country, within the past two years consumer rejection in the United States to the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone has reached a tipping point. Many major brands including Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Ben and Jerry’s and 40 of the 100 largest dairies all publicly committing to not having dairy products contaminated with the growth hormone.

There are four things consumers can do to stop eating GMO foods:
1) Buy organic
2) Buy products that are voluntarily labeled GMO Free
3) Buy products listed on a Non-GMO Shopping Guide
4) Avoid at risk ingredients: Corn, Soy, Cotton Seed, Canola, Hawaiian Papaya, and as of the Autumn of 2008 Sugar Beet, and all products made from these derivatives. ie: soy lecithin, high fructose corn syrup. Read full list

| GM Watch List Serve | Eat Local Niagara | Canadian Organic Growers |
| The Seasoned Spoon: Food Related Resources & University Student Initiatives |

OPIRG-Brock is happy to be hosting Smith's books for use in our alternative resource library. We are also excited to be able to offer, for sale, copies of two films, endorsed by Smith, from the International Institute for Responsible Tecnology: "The GMO Trilogy", and "The World According to Monsanto" - both available in the OPIRG-Brock Resource Library.

For more information on the films, or books, which are also available for sale in the Brock Bookstore please contact us.

DisOrientation Slam Poetry & Musical Performance by LAL

2008-10-21T07:51:00.000-07:00

OPIRG's Disorientation week closed off on Friday September the 5th: We held a coffee house night at Strega Café on King St to showcase the Toronto's Slam poetry team, who opened the night with some beautiful spoken word performances! Toronto Poetry Slam is all about ideas, with one in particular: people sharing poetry for everyone to enjoy. Deeply felt truths combined with a performance-centered style results in an often moving, always entertaining, evening of spoken word. The slam team as folleded by an incredible musical performance by Toronto based LAL, a protest band representing Uganda, Bangladesh, Barbados and India. They shared tracks from their new record " Deportation" which was creatively triggered by 9/11 and it's affects, the deportation of Queen Nzinga [an artist and activist who was deported to Costa Rica on International Women's Day in Toronto in 2004], and many others, Project Threadbare [a campaign to stop the deportation of 24 Pakistani men due to racist immigration and national security measures].

We are very thankful to everyone who came out to enjoy this experience and enjoy these rare talents !

DisOrientation Zine Workshop

2008-09-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in the OPIRG-Brock Resource Library, some crafty people got together to find out more about zines and ended up making one of their own! Kate Andres-Toal, workshop coordinator and organizer of OPIRG working group GROW shared her passion for zines and just generally arts and crafts with some eager learners and other crafty friends. The workshop was a success with a collaborative zine about 'downtowns' being created and copied. Many future crafty DIY workshop ideas were discussed for future gatherings as well! Thanks Kate and to all that attended!

OPIRG Welcomes New Staff

2008-06-24T08:23:00.000-07:00

OPIRG Brock's new Programming and Campus Network Coordinator, Milica Njegovan is excited to start working on new projects and continuing ongoing plans set out by Mike Smith, who we wish the best of luck with his feature endeavours!

Art of Peace Festival 2008

2008-06-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

This year's Art of Peace festival, organized by the St. Catharines and Area Arts Council, along with Project Ploughshares Niagara, was a success! Drawing approximately 1,000 people on a very sunny, hot Saturday afternoon. Saturday June 7th OPIRG participated with this year's peace festival by hosting a workshop and a table in the Art Through Peace stations. Vanessa Gomez, board member of OPIRG - Brock, organized an exciting Seeding for Peace art activity for passersby engaging them in conversations about peace and letting them know about OPIRG.
The festival drew a variety of different people and hosted a number of different events and participants. People could walk on stilts, get their face painted, enjoy local food and listen to incredible local musicians.
This year also mark's the festival's first "Making Peace" limited edition CD. This cd is a compilation of talented local artists singing about peace. It's 10$ and the money goes towards making a bigger brighter peace festival for next year! Contact the St. Catharines and Area Arts Council, downtown St. Catharines for more information on the CD and how you can get your hands on one!

How can we turn our back on a valued worker?

2008-05-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

GROW has a number of upcoming events:

May 24: Domino tournament in Vineland
June 8: Jamaican/Canadian Dinner at St. Andrews Church in Niagara Falls. This dinner features Caribbean dishes and is a fundraiser for CWOP. Tickets are $10.
June 22: Cricket match/dinner at Col. John Butler School, across from Bethany church on the corner of East-West Line & Four Mile Creek Road in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
For more information on these events contact Kate.

How can we turn our back on a valued worker?; Treatment of an offshore worker who is battling cancer is shameful

By Kate Andres-Toal
The St. Catharines Standard
May 13th, 2008

For many people in the world, work is an essential part of life. For those living in privilege, however, work has become something to avoid. The goal is to work as little as possible, living a life of weekend leisure until we can retire. Work is something we pay others to do. We buy "labour-saving" machines and services, because, as a recent dishwasher/nail polish advertisement states, "There's more to life than just doing dishes." Agrarian philosopher Wendell Berry observes, "You may hold up your head in polite society with a public lie in your mouth or other people's money in your pocket or innocent blood on your hands, but not with dishwater on your hands or mud on your shoes."

[Read Full Article]

Peggy McKay Award Winners!

2008-05-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

Every year working groups from the PIRGs across Ontario can apply for the Peggy McKay Award. This award was established by Paul McKay (journalist, environmental activist, and former OPIRG-Peterborough staff member) in 1988, in memory of his mother, Peggy, who died of cancer in 1987. By encouraging environmental action, the awards will hopefully lead to a decrease in the cause of her death.

Each one of the winners receives $250 for their Working Group which can be used however their group choose.

This years winners are:

- Transportation for Liveable Communities, OPIRG McMaster
- Student Math Action Research Team, OPIRG McMaster (Please note that SMART's video, "The Shocking Truth: Greenhouse Gases and Transportation" is available upon request.)
- Safe and Green Energy, OPIRG Peterborough

The Shocking Truth: Greenhouse Gases & Transportation

Earth Day Seeding Workshop

2008-04-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

Eat Local Niagara’s Mike Smith led a workshop this past Earth Day on seeding vegetables and herbs. About a dozen interested students came out to get their hands dirty and to try and turn some thumbs green. They planted over 325 seedlings of tomatoes, beans, peas, basil, parley and savory. Volunteers also learned the basics of testing seed viability, and planted dozens of rouge sunflowers around the campus.

Eat Local will be sending a seed order from Johnny Selected Seeds on April 30th. If any one is interested in saving on shipping costs and want to add onto our order please bring order and money to the OPIRG office by April 30th. Terminator Seeds ONFC Buying club will also be making an order in the coming weeks. Stop by the OPIRG office to look at the ONFC catalogue if you are interested.

Food Not Bombs Spring Serving

2008-04-22T09:44:00.000-07:00

Food Not Bombs - Niagara is based on the simple principalsof equity and non-violence.
We work together to recycle and redistribute food and also to cultivate resistance to poverty and violence. We do this work because we know that people are going hungry in our city while hundreds of pounds of food sits in cupboards and garbage cans- unused.

On April 7th, a beautiful sunny Monday, FNB served in the academic south courtyard. Many people came to enjoy some tasy creative meals and we all enjoyed some delicious soup and lummus (lentil hummus).

On Sunday April 13th FNB did it's first spring serving in Montebello. It was a beautiful day with many friends showing up to eat food in the park with us. We had music and frisbees and other games and spent some time letting people know about FNB in the community. We are going to be serving more in the park this summer and look forward to having more people to share our food with.

Please check the OPIRG-Brock website and newsletter for a listing of upcoming serving dates.

Cook for peace.

End of Year & Volunteer Appreciation Celebration

2008-04-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

On April 3rd OPIRG had it's annual end of year and volunteer celebration, to thank the countless volunteers who's efforts have made for successful year for our PIRG.
We gathered together at PAN Café, a lovely local, mostly organic downtown restaurant for delcisious food with tea and coffee.

2007-2008 AGM

2008-04-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

OPIRG Brock's 2007-2008 Annual General Meeting was success! The Meeting was chaired by Sean Willson, Brock T.A. and former OPIRG Board Member. The meeting brought with it the long awaited return of OPIRG's Volunteer Coordinator, Jen Coorsh after battling with some health complications the past three weeks.

OPIRG Brock welcomed Avery Kennedy, Randi O'Brien, and Steve Romanin to the Board for the 2008-2009 term. Officially four members of the 2007 Board are continuing to sit on the Board for another term. These include Kelsey Cheslock, Vanessa Gomez, Neeva Sandhu, and James Symons. With an additional two pending submission of their qualifications.

While OPIRG operates by consensus, for the purposes of being incorporated as a registered not-for-profit organization we must follow Roberts rules of order for our Annual General Meeting. Our 2007-2008 Annual Report summarizes how our organization has progressed this past year. If you are interested in reading the AGM Minutes please contact us.

Ecofest

2008-03-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

OPIRG Brock participated in St. Catharines Climate Action Now's (CAN) 1st Annual Ecofest this past weekend. The event had a trade show showcasing dozens of environmentally focused community organizations and businesses.

The event showcased a number of prominent speakers including those from the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association, Clean Air Foundation's "Go Solar Program", and author Mike Nickerson.

OPIRG Brock Board Members Vanessa Gomez, and Kelsey Cheslock informed event participants about OPIRG Brock by providing literature about OPIRG's programs and events. Specifically Gomez and Cheslock sold fair trade baskets and hand bags which OPIRG has sold out of the office since February to help make fair trade products more accessible. A record number these products were sold at Ecofest, and 100% of the proceeds go back to producers in the Mexican women’s basket weaving cooperative!

OPIRG now offers Nickerson's new book Life, Money & Illusion: Living on Earth as if we want to stay, and can now be borrowed from the OPRIG Alternative Resource Centre.

Toronto Slam Poetry Team

2008-03-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

OPIRG Brock’s Amnesty International working group held a fund raising event to help raise funds for their sister organization at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Amnesty invited Toronto’s Slam Poetry Team to come back and perform some of their work to a packed house at Strega Café on March 26th.

The powerful words of the poets touched the hearts and minds of those in the room. Expressing their individual critiques, perspectives and life lessons on many issues, from politics, to philosophy.

A video sample of some of the poets work will be posted shortly...

Water Taste Test

2008-03-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

[Former OPIRG Board Member Caleb Goodaker-Craig, & Current Board Member Kelsey Cheslock]

As part of OPIRG Brock's campaign to raise awareness about the privatization of water volunteers took part in the second Bottled Water - Tap Water taste test. Participants had their taste buds tested to see if they could accurately identify the source of the water they drank. 57% of the participants were able to correctly identified the source of the water they drank. At the water taste test last November 71% of the participants correctly identified the source of the water.

Tomorrow OPIRG will host a screening of the film Dead in the Water in TH 241. All are welcome.

Read the St. Catharines Standard's article on the event.

World Water Day

2008-03-17T11:46:00.001-07:00

As part of OPIRG Brock's campaign to raise awareness of the costs of Bottled Water OPIRG Volunteers created this tower of consumption to provide a visual representation as to how much the average Canadian consumes ever two years. The average Canadian as of 2005 consumed 57L of Bottled Water per year, up from 26L in 2003.

Facilitator Training

2008-03-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Rae Mitchell visited St. Catharines last Saturday to provide training to OPIRG Board and Volunteers on consensus decision making and the roll of a facilitator. Mitchell has been volunteering with th PIRGs for many years, and has provided these trainings to a number of organizations. OPIRG Brock will host another workshop on consensus in the fall of 2008.

German New Medicne

2008-03-14T08:47:00.001-07:00

This past Thursday afternoon Ilsedora Laker gave a presentation on the writings of Dr. med. Ryke Geerd Hamer. Hamer believes that every disease "originates from an unexpected shock experience." While Dr. Hamer's theory is not accepted by the medical community at large, his work has the support of small groups of people in Europe and North America.

Ghana Independence celebration

2008-03-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Ghana achieving independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, dozens of students and members of the community filled Decew's After Hour Lounge last Friday. African music played, while participants enjoyed eating many traditional Ghanaian foods.
This celebration serves as a reminder of the era of colonialism that many nations left behind last century. It also challenges us today to be critical of the new ear of neo-colonialism which is often shrouded in the masks of "democracy", and global free market liberal capitalism.

Ecofeminism: Feminism in the Age of Ecology

2008-03-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

In celebration of International Women’s Day Ana Isla a professor in Women’s Studies and Sociology at Brock University gave a compelling lecture on Ecofeminism: Feminism in the Age of Ecology. A dozen students listened attentively to the lecture and then participated in a discussion as to how an ecofeminsim perspective can be beneficial to try and make positive change in our community and around the world.

CSAF & Fair Trade Table

2008-02-28T11:41:00.000-08:00

CSAF volunteers spent the day tabling in Thistle informing students and faculty about CSAF and the various fair trade products available on campus. Currently there is an ethical purchasing policy at Brock which encourages faculties to purchase fair trade products on campus.

Alt. Resource Centre Database Now Online!

2008-02-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

OPIRG Brock’s Alternative Resource Centre now has its book collection cataloged using the Canadian Library Congress Standard and can easily be found by searching the Brock University Library Search Engine. (Remember to Select OPIRG from the Location Field when conducting your search) Stay tuned, as OPIRG’s magazines and video collection will be added to the database in the coming months.

We always welcome suggestions for new resources to be added to our collection! Contact Vanessa with “Resource Centre Recommendations” in the subject line.

Who's The Man?

2008-02-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

GlobalAware Independent Media Organisation was on Brock’s campus again yesterday afternoon (February 13th) fundraising in Mackenzie Chown A Block and leading a workshop on gender stereotypes. The workshop, “Who’s the Man?” looked at pop culture and explored questions around masculinity.

Facilitated by Paul Baines the discussion focused on connecting topics such as health, body image, violence, family, education, disability, emotional literacy, and diplomacy (to name a few). The group explored exactly what it meant to be a ‘real man’ and questioned who benefited from patriarchal gender norms.

Fair Trade Baskets & Bags at OPIRG

2008-02-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

OPIRG Brock now offers Fair Trade products to be sold out of our office!

OPIRG Brock has partnered with our sister PIRG at McMaster University to reduce transportation costs and to offer a variety of fair trade products to both communities. Zoyatl a women’s basket weaving cooperative of Tlamacazapa, Guerrero, Mexico create these baskets to provide employment for women. The cooperative structure provides the framework for women to receive a fair price for their baskets. Zoyatl is one of the projects inspired by the Walking Together for Health and Development (Caminamos Juntos Para Salud y Desarrollo) is a nonprofit organization working in Tlamacazapa since early 1997.
In addition OPIRG Brock is also offering a small assortment of bags from the Reutilize Project. The Reutilize Project creates bags out of waste. By weaving old potato ship bags, rubber from old tires, or pop tabs to create a beautiful assortment of bags.
OPIRG Brock will be selling these products at cost to help make them more accessible to students.

G.R.O.W Film Screening

2008-01-30T07:23:00.000-08:00

The screening on Sunday January 27 was a great success! There were about 26 people in attendance, varying in age and experiences with Jamaica and its migrant workers. Some people were very focused on the political and economic aspects of the film, whereas others were more interested on how the Jamaican workers employed in our area are affected. After the film we opened it up to discussion and were fortunate to have two Jamaicans answer our questions and share their experiences (which was terribly heartbreaking at times). Overall it was a great mix of people that inevitably led to a fascinating conversation, resulting in several new friendships which is what GROW loves to facilitate!

Based on the success of this event, we'll definitely have to plan another with a location that is more accessible to Brock students.

Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework

2008-01-21T11:34:00.000-08:00

On Thursday January 17th OPIRG Brock hosted the St. Catharines Premiere screening of the new NFB film Refugees of the Blue Planet, followed by a presentation from Monique Woolnough from the Sierra Youth Coalition of the Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF).

Numerous institutions in Canada have indicated that they wish to become more sustainable, but what exactly does this mean? The CSAF attempts to research dozens of economic, environmental, and social indicators to measure how sustainable a institution is. After the research is compiled to asses how sustainable the university is, benchmarks are set by the various stakeholders, as to how make the university more sustainable in the coming year(s).

A masters student at the University of Victoria originally came up with the CSAF as part of her thesis. Currently 8 other Ontario Universities have started the CSAF process at their respective institutions. McGill and Concordia has already completed the CSAF, and are trying to reach the various benchmarks that they have set for themselves.

Listen to Monique give an introduction of the CSAF

If you are interested in participating in the CSAF at Brock contact opirgbu(at.nospam)brocku(dot)ca or call us at 905-688-5550 x3499

Real Life Film Festival

2008-01-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

OPIRG Hosted the screening of Loose Change Final Cut, a film that challenges the official story of what happened on 9/11 as part of the Real Life Film Festival. The festival was primarily organized through the office of Human Rights and Equity Services where numerous campus groups sponsored a variety of film.

Food Not Bombs @ Brock

2008-01-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

OPIRG Brock's working group Food Not Bombs served free vegan food at Brock University this afternoon. Volunteers cooked donated food Sunday night to serve at Brock on Monday. Food Not Bombs turned people on to cooking, vegetarianism, and made people think about the origins of the food they eat.

Food Not Bombs would like to offer regular serving on campus, and in the community, but need volunteers to keep the service alive! If you are interested in getting involved email Food Not Bombs

Speaking Out Against Violence Against Women

2008-01-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

On December 6th Human Rights and Equity Services organized numerous groups on campus to come together for an event to remember the victims of the Montreal Massacre, and to speak out against violence against women. Listen to the powerful words of Theresa Di Clementa, Ann Duffy, Amy Morton, and Lorraine Cullen.

Tar Sands

2008-01-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

OPIRG Brock has recently sponsored The Dominion a grassroots news cooperative’s Speacial Edition publication on The world’s largest industrial project and the future of Canada’s TAR SANDS

Come in and check out this great new resource with +40 pages of articles, pictures, maps, regarding what is happening in the world largest industrial project!

The Social Justice & Equity Studies Department & OPIRG brought the Dominion founding editor Dru Oja Jay, to speak at Brock on the environmental, social, and economic impacts of the Tar Sands project in Alberta.

OPIRG Office Closure

2007-11-30T07:03:00.000-08:00

The OPIRG Office will be closed from Dec. 1, 2007 through January 2nd, 2008. The office will be open on a by appointment basis until Dec. 14, 2007.

To make an appointment contact Ron Walker at 905-788-0806, or at Rw94ba[no.spam]brocku[dot]ca

Good luck on exams, and have a great holiday!

Freedom From Fear: Speaking About Burma

2007-11-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

[From Left: Michael McNamara, Dr. Charles Burton, Brian John]

Last Friday OPIRG’s Amnesty International working group held the Freedom From Fear: Speaking About Burma speaker series.

Brian John, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Country Co-coordinator, spoke about Amnesty’s perspective as to the current situation in Burma. While it is difficult to get accurate numbers as to the number of arrests, injuries, and deaths in the country as a result of pro democracy protests. John spoke of some specific examples, and provided some of the best numbers that Amnesty International has to date.

Professor Charles Burton, who formally worked as a Canadian Diplomat in China, spoke of the role of China in allowing and encouraging the excess repression in Burma happen.

Professor Michael McNamara, spoke more broadly about human rights in Burma. As there is no UN justification to intervene into the internal affairs of Myanmar, when its neighbors do not consider it a treat to regional security.

Freedom From Fear

The Marketing of Marijuana Movement

2007-11-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday November 21, Matt Mernagh is Canada’s self-declared Cannabis Champion of the World. The chronic pained social justice writer (NOW / Cannabis Culture) was the first UnExpert Lecture speaker at Brock.

Mernagh in his talk titled The Marketing of Marijuana Movement suggests the pro marijuana media, emergence of compassion clubs, bring your own bud cafes, smoke-outs, cannabis cups, legalization conferences, and toker tours have Canadians more open to checking a box about their cannabis consumption than other nations.

Mernagh spoke of the July 13, 2007 decision of Toronto Justice H. Borenstein found the current possession law to be unconstitutional, as it does not respect the rights of those whom use marijuana for medicinal purposes. The federal government has not appealed this decision to a higher court to date, and has not made any indication of changing the law. However the Harper government has began an anti-cannabis campaign weeks later declaring there is a marijuana law.

On the 16th of November an Oshawa judge agreed that Canada's Pot Laws Are Unconstitutional and DO NOT EXIST With the strong pressure from the DEA, and the Harper Governments new Crime Legislation, we will see how Canada’s drug laws are likely to change.

If you would like to speak at an upcoming UnExpert Lecture about a topic of your choice contact us at jmmsmith[no.spam]gmail[dot]com

Water Taste Test

2007-11-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

In conjunction with the national day of action against bottled water organized by the Polaris Institute and the Sierra Youth Coalition yesterday OPIRG hosted a water taste test on campus. Students drank samples of both Aquafina and Brock University Tap Water. 71% of students whom participated correctly identified the source of the water they drank. Many students commented on the smell of chlorine in the tap water sample.

Participants entered a raffle to win 1 of 2 stainless steel water bottles. The winners of the raffle are Emily Mazi, and Gerrad Downs.

If you would like to get involved in the Inside the Bottle Campaign contact opirgbu(nospam)brocku(dot)ca

Related Articles:
Bottled water: Is there more in the bottle than meets the eye?

Global Aware

2007-11-21T09:55:00.000-08:00

Global Aware, a environmental social justice not for profit organization whom publishes images from its independent photographers from around the world, is on Brock’s campus this week showing off their most recent photo exhibition. The exhibition of Robert Semeniuk's recent work which focuses on trachoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness effecting 28 million people globally.

OPIRG Brock has brought Global Aware to campus again this year to help fundraise for their campaigns and to raise awareness about important environmental, and social justice issues.

There exhibit and merchandise tables are located in the hallway outside the Computer Commons towards the courtyard from November 19th through 22nd.

Global Aware will also be offering an upcoming workshop at Brock in the New Year. For details stay tuned to opirgbrock.org, or join our events mailing list!

Related Article:
To Tell The Truth

Volunteer Training

2007-11-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

This past weekend OPIRG Brock offered the last of its series of volunteer trainings. Volunteers received some of OPIRG’s core skills; Anti Oppression, and Consensus Decision Making from two excellent trainers.

Sabina Chatterjee, a Guelph-ite has worked in transitional youth shelters, in the Wellington area. She has also trained volunteers from OPIRG Guelph. Sabina trained OPIRG Brock’s volunteers on Anti-Oppression, and discussed the importance of working in a non-hieratical environment.

Helen Tremethick former PGPIRG Coordinator, and Volunteer with NSPIRG, and OPRG McMaster, facilitated the Consensus Decision Making Training in the afternoon. This training helped introduce consensus decision making to new working group and Board of Director members. As OPIRG Brock uses consensus to make its decisions, this training was essential to help familiarize volunteers with the process.

Related Resources:
Consensus.net
Anti-Oppression: Articles and resources on anti-oppression.

Inside the Bottle

2007-11-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

Bottled water is big business in Canada, and is getting bigger. Twenty years ago you would have been publicly laughed at for asking for bottled water. However as of 2003 1 in 5 Canadians rely exclusively on bottled water in Ontario. Today Andy Harden from the Polaris Institute’s Inside the Bottle Campaign came to speak at Brock to help try and mobilize student’s support for the campaign.

The damaging effects of Bottled water are beginning harder to ignore, as environmental degradation, and human rights abuses of the bottlers has started to permeate the main stream media. In the last year the City San Francisco passed a resolution banning bottled water in city offices, citing global warming and cost savings as the primary reasons for its decisions. Locally OPIRG Brock’s Board of Directors recently passed a motion against bottled water in its office and at its events. Ryerson University and the University of Toronto according to Harden, are about to vote on whether or not to ban bottled water on their respective campuses.

Stay tuned to Cogeco Channel 10 for the next week, for footage and interviews from Andy Harden, and OPIRG’s Volunteer Coordinator, Jen Coorsh.

If you are interested in participating in OPIRG Brock’s ongoing campaign on Bottled Water contact us!

OPRIG Brock’s Resource Centre Recommendations
Inside the Bottle: Exposing the Bottled Water Industry by Tony Clarke
Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit by Vandana Shiva
Cochabamba!: Water War in Bolivia by Oscar Olivera
Blue Gold by Maude Barlow & Tony Clarke
Water A CITIZENShift DVD compilation

Health Fair

2007-11-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

On Monday November 5th 2007 Student Health Services hosted their annual Health Fair at Brock University. Numerous campus and community organizations were represented which helped to inform the Brock community about everything from sports injuries to sexuality issues to nutritious food choices. The health fair offered numerous door prizes to participants, which were donated by various corporate sponsors. Ironically Kraft owned by Altria formerly Philip Morris the tobacco company also was one of the sponsors.

OPIRG Brock participated in the Health Fair by offering locally grown apples to those who completed a Healthy Community Survey. A total of 52 individuals participated in the survey, which is to small of a sample size to project these results conclusively to the student body as a whole. It does however provide an idea of the opinions of Brock students.

The survey indicated shockingly that 40% of Brock students do not feel safe walking alone at night. This disconcerting number perhaps indicates that services like Brock Foot Patrol which is a free walk home service that provides students, staff and visitors with a safe escort on and around the Brock Campus, may need more resources so that it is better utilized. For students whom live off campus such a service is of little comfort.

The Healthy Community Survey also indicated that when asked to "rank each service they would like to see on campus" 53% of Brock students want a Bike Co-Op on campus where students could purchase cheap bicycles, and learn how to build and maintain them. Considering that a relatively small number of Brock students that cycle to Brock daily, new programs to make cycling more accessible may be needed in the future.

Speacial Campus Directory: Green Learning

2007-11-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

OPIRG Brock and our Working Group GROW (Growing Respect for Offshore Workers) has been included in the most recent issue of Alternatives Journal. Volume 33 Nomber 5 2007. The Speacial Campus Directory: Green Learning includes a wealth of knoledge of all the ongoing environmental initiatives at Universities all accross Canada.

Come by the OPIRG Resource Centre Monday - Friday 10am-4pm to view this issue and previous issues dating back to 1989!

War Resister Michael Espinal

2007-10-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Michael Espinal, and his partner Jenn arrived at Brock University to talk about their experience coming to Canada from the United States. The two of them are filing for refugee status, so that Michael would not have to go back and fight in the US led War in Iraq.

Michael put a very real human face on the horrors that are being committed everyday in Iraq. He spent 14 months as an explosives expert doing house raids, disarming landmines, and other explosives. Michael was reprimanded for breaking military procedure for only placing enough explosives on the doors to open them, rather than blowing the entire door and frame into the houses. If you use the amount of explosives the military states you should in its procedures. “anyone within 5 feet of the door would be killed instantly.” According to Michael most of the intelligence they relied on was from other Iraqi’s who told US forces of locations where “bad” people were. These informants were paid about $5.00. “In all the raids I found only two grenades, and a few guns… if you were a male over 5 feet you were bound and taken away.” Michael said. Bibles were regularly shoved in the pockets of Iraqi’s as soldiers would taunt them and tell them their religion was wrong.

We constantly hear on the news of deaths and injuries of Coalition Forces in Iraq due to roadside bombs. From Michael’s experience “Most of the IED’s (Improvised Explosive Device), I found were unexploded US ordinance,” or US placed landmines. When convoys would drive near the ordinance sometimes the vibration of vehicles passing would be enough to detonate it. Regardless of the source of the explosive, it is always blamed on “terrorists”.

We never heard anything about the Iraqi people, just about terrorists, and enemies. “We never shot warning shots… if a child with a hand in their pocket… got within 5-10 feet of a soldier, they were shot because they are an enemy.” Any Iraqi’s who were injured intentionally or accidental were denied medical attention.

Michael returned to the United States in June of 2005, as he had been injured. He worked recruiting for the army in Miami, Florida. The recruiters had quotas they had to reach or they would be disciplined. The recruiters had a budget of $500 a month to spend on BBQs and picnics, to encourage people to enlist. We “never went into a rich area to recruit, only the poor areas.” Espinal said. They would have about $75 they could spend to help entice people to enlist, by buying things like sporting event tickets, or clothing. “It was brainwashing!” The military reserves the right to change virtually every part of the contract you sign. “The military has the right to change your job, withhold your bonus, … change your insurance policy without you knowing… deny you schooling, medical care, and your housing allowance.” Espinal said.

When Espinal was posted in Germany in June of 2006, the new recruits were just arriving from boot camp. These 17-20 year olds were supposed to have six months of training in Kuwait prior to being deployed in Iraq. This was reduced down to a 10 day training course where they were taught how to do house raids from an instructor who according to Espinal had never done one in combat. “The training was half assed all the way”, Espinal said. Some of them failed targeting tests, but instructors still passed them. They are going to get themselves killed. These kids were in Iraq seven weeks after enlisting.

The US military has become increasingly privatized in recent years. There are about as many private contractors in Iraq today, as there are US military personal. Life for US Soldiers in Iraq is disproportionately more difficult than their privatized counterparts. US soldiers who do not want to use the older standard issue weapons have to pay hundreds of dollars to use the newer ones. “You are not allowed to use the best armor!” Espinal said. One has to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for armor, if they do not have any left that fits you properly. “If you die before your tour is done they [the military] will bill your estate for breech of contract… [or] if you are injured on tour, they will charge you for your medical care just like a hospital would back home.” Espinal continued.

Espinal was told that he was being transferred to the infantry, and would be redeployed to Iraq in the autumn of 2006. Despite being poisoned from depleted uranium, and a foot injury, which prevents him from running, or standing extended periods of time. He watched a Captain in another battalion, shred his medical records and print out new ones that said he was in perfect health. Espinal after this went AWOL, and returned to the United States. One year later in September 2007 Michael and Jenn crossed the Canadian boarder and got in touch with the War Resisters Support Campaign in Ontario.

They both are happy and touched at the support they have received in Canada. Jenn described, while their loved ones in the US support their decision to come to Canada, they still feel that being a War Resister is something wrong. It is different in Canada, where the people they have met think they did the right thing by leaving.

About 65% of Ontarians support US War Resisters staying in Canada. Michael and Jenn have been welcomed into the homes of a few families in Ontario while they make the transition.

Check back later for updates of thes progress of their refugee claim in Canada.

Related Article:
On the run from the American military Brock Press, October 2007

Local Anti-War Groups
Niagara Coalition for Peace (email list serve)
Hamilton Action for Social Change
McMaster University Centre for Peace Studies

OPIRG Autumn Hike

2007-10-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

On Saturday October 20th, Ian Wood, Brock Alumni and sustainable tourism guru led a hike along the 12 Mile Creek Trail. Wood provided an interesting and informative talk along the hike. The 12 Mile Creek Trail was originally created and maintained by students of Brock Universities late Environmental Department. (Which is now been merged with the Tourism Department). These previous students marked trees

Along the hike, OPIRG’s Programming Coordinator Mike Smith pointed out numerous eatable native wild plant species. The group noticed; wild grapes, wild strawberry plants, Jerusalem artichokes, apples, crab apples, rosehips, maple, black berry plants, cat tails, and sumac. Not all of the plants were ready to be harvested, but it is important for hikers to lean to identify various plants through out the season. This will ensure that local hikers will learn what snacks are growing in their back yards.

Along the last kilometer or so of the hike, the group came across a lost dog on the trail. The dog followed the group home, where his human was tracked down thanks to the St. Catharines Humane Society. The dog’s name we learned was Marcus, and was happy to be reunited. (Marcus pictured Right taking the lead on the hike.)

Migrantes: Los Que Venimos de Adentro

2007-10-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Oct. 15 @ 7pm, OPIRG Brock's working group G.R.O.W. (Growing Respect for Offshore Workers) hosted a movie event.

Mexican filmmaker Aarón Diaz was present to share & discuss his film. "Over the past few years Canadians have become increasingly aware of the thousands of Mexican and Caribbean migrant workers that come to labour in our fields each year as part of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. We have seen how these men and women work long hours, contributing in body and spirit to their own families' advancement, and to the cultures and economies Canadian towns where they live and work. We have seen too, how the Canadian agriculture has grown with these workers, and how governments are striving to increase their numbers and expand the program to other industries all over the country.

The story that we do not know is what happens to migrant agricultural workers when they go back home. Participants in this program do not just return to their families with money, gifts and work experience, but often carry with them serious injuries, chronic illnesses, personal traumas, and feelings of loneliness and disconnection that stay with them well beyond the period of their contracts. Mexican filmmaker Aaraon Diaz has given a voice to these health problems and to the migrant workers, families and friends who must endure their consequences."

If you missed this screening, OPIRG members may borrow a DVD copy of the film from our Resource Centre.

Related:
Justicia 4 Migrant Workers

Motion to Ban Bottled Water

2007-10-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

This year, OPIRG-Brock has decided to concentrate on bottled water and exclusivity contracts. By joining students across Canada in the Inside the Bottle campaign we hope to challenge the presence of Pepsi on our campus and educate students on water issues including but not limited to the privatization and bottling of vast amounts of water by Pepsi and other corporate beverage giants.

On Friday October 12th the OPIRG- Brock Board of Directors met for their regular meeting. They were presented with a resolution to ban bottled water from the OPIRG office and all future meetings and to resolve to carry the bottled water campaign forward. The resolution passed unanimously and OPIRG-Brock is proud to be a bottled-water free zone.

We have since begun to fill used glass bottles with tap water and keep a reserve of them in the fridge where our staff, board, volunteers and general members have access to this source of water as drinking fountains and accessible tap water becomes a rarity on our ever-commercialized campus.

We are excited to begin our own campaign to get bottled water and Pepsi off of our campus and to educate the students and the community at large about the major threats our freshwater systems face as a result of mass water extraction by corporations like Pepsi.

Motion to Ban Bottled Water

WHEREAS schools and campuses across the country have been targeted by major beverage corporations to sign long term exclusivity contracts exchanging cash for monopoly access to sell their beverages to the campus community; and

WHEREAS these contracts are typically negotiated in confidence with the administration and/or students’ unions and with little meaningful debate and involvement of the students, staff and faculty and they limit the opportunity for students and staff to make conscious consumer choices to support local business and public water supplies; and

WHEREAS two of the principal corporations pursuing exclusivity contracts, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo., have been involved in well-documented human rights abuses, an environmentally damaging manufacturing process, poor labour management practices and whose principal products contribute to poor health and the rise of obesity amongst young people; and

WHEREAS these exclusivity contracts have become a specious form of revenue for schools, students’ unions and university administrations in the wake of decades of under funding, and contribute to the commercialization of public spaces; and

WHEREAS the bottled water industry is presently growing at a rate of 18% annually, thus becoming one of the key products beings pushed in schools and on campuses; and

WHEREAS bottled water is a form of consumer manipulation, and contributes to environmental degradation and the further expansion of corporate control.

BE IT RESOLVED that OPIRG-Brock undertake research to inform members of the issues associated with beverage exclusivity contracts and bottled water; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that OPIRG-Brock work with allied groups at school and on campus with the goal of developing alternative beverage agreements on campuses that encourage campus/ community partnerships and are in keeping with ethical purchasing policies; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that bottled water be here-on banned from OPIRG-Brock meetings and, if deemed appropriate, water jugs with tap water be available to members during meetings.

OPIRG's Resource Centre Related Titles:

Books:
Barlow, Maude. Blue Gold
Olivera, Oscar. !Chochabamba! Water War In Boliva
Shiva, Vandana. Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit

Online:
CBC Indepth: Water Privatization

Magazines:
UTNE
Canadian Dimensions

Burma Awareness

2007-10-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

OPIRG’s Amnesty International working group had a table in McKenzie Chown all last week. Students, staff, and faculty stopped at the table to get more information on what is known of the situation currently happening in Burma. Tens of thousands of Pro-Democracy protesters challenged the military run government in recent weeks. Thousands of protesters have been imprisoned, and hundreds have been killed or have gone missing. For more up to date information on the goings on in Burma, check out Amnesty International Online, and Human Rights Watch.

MMP

2007-10-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

OPIRG Brock has been active in supporting the change of Ontario’s electoral system to the Mixed Member Plurality (MMP). OPIRG Volunteers tabled in A-Block the week prior to the referendum encouraging students, staff, and factuality to vote YES, in favor of changing the electoral system.

ONTARIO REFERENDUM RESULTS:

Question: Which electoral system should Ontario use to elect members to the legislature?
Existing 63.39%
Mixed member proportional 36.61%
Ridings in favour of MMP 5/107

To change requires 60% of the popular vote and majority approval in 64 of the 107 ridings.
Source: CBC Online

The Ontario Government took the lead from British Columbia, who started Citizen Assemblies of average voters to be paid to learn about electoral systems. This was in response to declining voter turn out across the country, as the current First Past The Post (FPTP) system does a poor job at representing the popular vote. While FPTP works well if there are two political parties, and help parties who have concentrated support. Those smaller parties who have broader support often loose out under the FPTP system.

As a result within the last decade in Ontario, Québec, British Columbia, and New Brunswick, have all had elections where the party was “elected” to a majority government, despite having a majority of voters voted for a different party. As a result voter turn out has been declining steadily for years in Canada. Only 52.6% of eligible voters voted in last weeks Ontario’s Provincial Election.

Related Links:
CBC Radio; The Current: Government Reform Panel (October 11, 2007)

Would MMP enhance democracy? YES. Everyone's vote counts in new system
Larry Gordon, Toronto Star (October 5, 2007)

MMP Video Archive

Volunteer Orientation Night

2007-10-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

On September 26th OPIRG held it’s annual volunteer orientation night.

We had homemade hummus and fresh air-popped popcorn to enjoy and about 10 people attended. Folks were able to learn about how OPIRG functions as a grassroots organization on campus. Members were interested in how they could get involved with OPIRG from working groups to our Board of Directors.

If you’re interested in finding out more about OPIRG and weren’t able to attend the volunteer orientation night, feel free to drop by the office or schedule an appointment with us by phoning, emailing or just coming by.

OPIRG Opposes the SPP & TILMA

2007-10-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

In March of 2007 OPIRG Brock’s Volunteer Coordinator Jen, went to Ottawa to attend a teach-in on the topic of deep integration. The 3-day teach in held in downtown Ottawa concentrated on the topic of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). This White House led initiative is a tri-national trade agreement between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. had been set into motion in 2005 without any public or legislative scrutiny in any of the three countries.

Another topic of discussion at the teach-in, though not as prominent, was a discussion on the Trade, Investment, Labour, and Mobility Agreement. This is an inter-provincial trade agreement between B.C. and Alberta, which came into effect while the teach-in was being held on April 1, 2007. This agreement was also signed the y ear before without any public or legislative debate. This agreement is viewed as Canada’s first corporate bill of rights and it is on the agenda for Ontario. This agreement is seen as a provincial facilitator for the larger, national SPP trade agreement.

Attending this teach-in enable OPIRG-Brock to organize and share this information with the public of Niagara. A partnership was formed with the local Council of Canadians chapter whereupon we decided to host Carleen Pckard, B.C.-Yukon Organizer and Eduardo Sousa, Ontario-Quebec Organizer from the Council of Canadians as part of their province-wide tour to educate the public on the threats of TILMA to our province.

Out of this teach-in OPIRG Brock and the Niagara Chapter of the Council of Canadians organized a public meeting downtown St. Catharines to educate people about TILMA and the SPP. A group of concerned citizens from municipalities all across the Niagara Region attended and are now currently organized as the Niagara Coalition Against the SPP and TILMA (NCAST). The group is working hard to focus local awareness on the SPP and TILMA which we maintain threaten Canadian sovereignty and local autonomy. We successfully organized a rally in Montebello Park against the SPP held on August 16th which was successful in both education and mobilization for a larger protest to be held in Ottawa and Quebec on August 20th and 21st against the 3rd summit of the SPP.

The group has now turned its attention to the TILMA. The coalition has begun to present information and a resolution concerning TILMA to municipalities in the Niagara Region. To date N-CAST has successfully presented the resolution and had it passed by the St. Catharines, Pelham and Niagara Falls city councils. We have also presented to Lincoln, Port Colborne and Fort Erie and their decision on the resolution is pending further discussion. We’re also preparing to present to Grimsby and Niagara-on-the-Lake in the coming weeks.

NCAST is always looking for more people to help out and if you are interested in joining the group or attending any meetings please email us here at OPIRG and we can get you in touch.

Related Article:
Citizen group urges council to say 'No' to trade agreement

My extended family is always growing; 'Invisible' offshore workers have become better than friends

2007-09-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

The Standard,
September 20, 2007
Kate Andres-Toal

Here in Niagara, I measure seasons differently than most people. The arrival of springtime isn't signalled by the sun sitting higher in the sky, the freshly budding branches or even the hopeful patches of grass poking through the snow.

I know spring is coming not from the flocks of birds that migrate north, but from the people who do the same.

These migrants are an invisible people, yet I know they're here. How? At first, just by the abundance of old bicycles in town and their conversations and laughter blossoming among the fruit trees. I know they're here and, although it took a while, now we share meals, music and laughter together. Yes, I know, but does anyone else?

Every year, about 1,000 people from Mexico and the Caribbean are hired in the Niagara region as temporary agricultural workers. They are part of Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP), a foreign workforce created in the 1960s by the Canadian government to fill labour shortages on farms. Tragically, they are also largely ignored and unappreciated by the people in the communities where they work, doing the jobs for which we as Canadians feel we are "too good."

On a working trip to Kenya a few years ago, I learned that until you know the lives of those behind an issue, it won't be a reality for you. Foreign labour was never a personal issue for me, until I met the people involved and learned their names and personalities. Once they became part of my life, I couldn't turn away, because to do so would be turning my back on friends.

Making friends with marginalized people is neither safe nor comfortable, because it's real life. It's not edited or censored to make it easier for our western minds to process. Most people, including myself, prefer not to know what's happening if it will challenge our lifestyles. We like to believe we're good people within secure boundaries. Our instinct is self-preservation; we tend to shy away from anything that may cause cognitive dissonance.

There are usually two ways that people respond to social issues like this one: avoidance or guilt. Avoidance being, "I won't deal with it," and guilt being, "I can't deal with it." Being faced with the lives of these people and knowing that neither of these options is very helpful, I decided to create a third option and called it GROW (Growing Respect for Offshore Workers).
The purpose of GROW is to build bridges of respect and understanding between these essential workers and the Niagara citizenry. This group, of which I'm the co-ordinator, has been funded and supported for nearly a year by Brock University's chapter of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group. We have organized activities with the workers such as film screenings, dinner parties and music nights.

The most successful event, however, was an appreciation night organized in co-operation with another local group CWOP (Caribbean Workers Outreach Program). It was well attended by the surrounding community, including Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Burroughs and MP Rob Nicholson's representative from Canada's Ministry of Justice, Rick Johnson. It was the first event in the history of the SAWP that officially recognized the workers' contribution to our community. The first one! What's wrong with us?

Befriending people on the margins of our society has proved to be extremely worthwhile, not just in the large-scale progress like the appreciation night, but in the one-on-one connections I have made.

Last February, I was fortunate enough to travel with my now-husband and my mother to Jamaica, where we visited several of our friends we'd met over the previous harvesting season. Winston became Brother Winston as we stayed at his home and walked to church in the tiny mountain village of Grants Bailey, St. Ann. We met his wife and children, to whom most of the money that Winston makes in Niagara goes in order to pay for food, clothing and education.

Now whenever he rides his bike past my house or stops in for a cold glass of juice, I'm able to say, "How's Pamela managing back home?" or "How are Shantae and Adrian doing in school?" and when Winston answers, I can see their faces and hear their voices as vividly as my own family's.

Our family bond was strengthened this past summer when I married my soul mate, Josh Toal, in the company of more than 100 supportive Jamaican men and women. I can't imagine it happening any other way now that these people have transformed from being ghosts, to friends and now to my brothers and sisters.

Kate Andres-Toal is a Niagara-on-the-Lake resident in her third year of communication studies at Brock University. She is a member of The Standard's community editorial board.

Light Bulb Exchange

2007-09-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

OPIRG Brock's Light Bulb Exchange was a huge success! From Monday September 10 through Friday September 14th OPIRG Brock's staff and volunteers exchanged 3,000 incandescent light bulbs for compact florescent ones. About 350 members of Brock's staff, faculty, and students participated in the exchange. The compact florescent bulbs, which were, distributed use 13w compared to the conventional incandescent 60w bulbs, which use about 70% less energy, and have a 7 year guarantee.

Those who wanted to exchange their light bulbs had to act fast, as when word got out people were lined up. Pictured is Brock Student Randi Townsend, who participated in exchanging her light bulbs before the crowd arrived. On Friday, September 14th, OPIRG gave away about 800 light bulbs in under an hour! Unfortunately this exhausted our supply of compact florescent bulbs, and had to turn people away.

OPIRG Brock is now in the position of 3,000 incandescent light bulbs, which cannot be used to generate light. This would breech our agreement with Horizon Utilities the donator of the compact florescent bulbs. As a result of this condition we are hoping that perhaps some local artist out there will want to make a sculpture using these old light bulbs. Other wise we will take these bulbs to the transfer station for proper disposal. If you folks know of an artist who would like to work with this unusual medium please have them get in touch with us here at OPIRG Brock.

Beehive Design Collective

2007-09-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

The Beehive Design Collective made their Brock debut on September 13th 2007. Lara from the BDC (pictured, right) gave a thought provoking one hour narrative picture lecture on Plan Colombia as envisioned through the Plan Colombia poster. Lara described the numerous narratives that exist simultaneously on the poster, delving into issues of colonization, resource extraction, capitalism, consumerism, and of course the US led War of Drugs. Colombia the victim of the worlds longest ever civil war, has been exacerbated by foreign governments, and multinational corporations, who exploit the countries national resources, while native Colombians are made victims by various armed factions, the loss of their traditional land, and the aerial spraying of toxic chemicals on their crops.

The lecture did not hide Canada's responsibility to the horrors in Colombia. Canada, according to Lara has donated attack helicopters to be used in Colombia, and has large mining interests in the country. Recently Stephen Harper visited Colombia where he met with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe where they announced that the two countries would begin trilateral talks on a free trade agreement with Peru. Currently the Colombian president is embroiled in a scandal where Colombia’s Supreme Court, in which it is alleged two senators in his party as well as one of his cousins are linked to right-wing death squads, is investigating him.

Come by the OPIRG office and watch the new film Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War Failure.If you missed this exciting event stay tuned to our event listing for an up coming screening.

The Beehive Design Collective: Plan Colombia Picture Lecture