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]]> http://www.jhcentre.org/2010/07/avenue-magazine-wants-your-opinion/feed/ 0 http://www.jhcentre.org/2010/04/recap-monday-rural-youth-leadership-day/ http://www.jhcentre.org/2010/04/recap-monday-rural-youth-leadership-day/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:02:16 +0000 admin http://jhcentre.wordpress.com/?p=393 Continue reading →]]> Welcome to your Recap Monday!

Over the weekend, Renee headed down to Lethbridge to lead the Rural Youth Leadership Day with Lorinda, our coordinator extraordinaire. Renee came back exhausted but full of exuberance and pleasure over how engaged and energetic the youth leaders were for the work. We are pleased that our first foray towards building rural youth connections with the overall Ignite Change Now! Program is off to a running success. We hope to build more connections with organizations in southern Alberta for the larger Youth Forum that is coming this fall.

For more coverage of this event, read this awesome article from the Lethbridge Herald. We’ve also uploaded a few images from this past weekend.

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Womanspace, in Lethbridge Alberta, is a community based organization dedicated to respecting and reflecting the diversity of women. Womanspace does advocacy work on behalf of women, raising awareness about issues and providing numerous services including financial literacy. It has been in operation in Lethbridge for over 20 years and sadly, it just received word that for the first time in two decades, they will not be receiving Status of Women Canada funding.

Non-profit organizations like these are a result of a lot of hard work, dedication, blood and tears. People don’t go into this field for the money–they do it because they recognize that there are others who need their assistance and they work hard to provide assistance in anyway they can. Denying a three year grant worth $347,000, harms not only the employees of this organization who will be out of a job by the end of summer, but the hundreds of women they assist yearly. Status of Women Canada did not give a reason why they were denied this funding; they just did.

These are the words of the clients Womanspace has helped.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5kfU3Top5s]

So. Without further adieu, here is your first edition of Friday MashUp for the week of March 15-19, 2010.

Canada must face up to multicultural angst: Experts

This news article goes over the recent StatsCan report that it’s possible that by 2031, at least 1 in 4 Canadians will be foreign-born. The article focuses on the reactions of Canadians over the news that more immigration is about to come, which will effectively render the phrase “visible minority” moot.

The experts in this article state unequivocally that there are a lot of myths about Canadian multiculturalism and that politicians and activists who point out that Canada is actually quite discriminatory and racist are muzzled. Immigration in this country is not as idyllic as that Tim Horton’s ad; immigrants and newcomers face substantial barriers to employment and education and it is distinctly racist because the immigrants who face the most problems are “visible minorities”. When your newly arrived Dutch or Irish immigrant comes, it’s cool that they’re Dutch/Irish. They’re white but speak with an awesome accent–who doesn’t love a European accent? (Okay, granted, a 100 years ago, that Irish dude might not have such an easy time…and I randomly picked two countries).

But if they’re from a Muslim country, or an African country, the attitudes are completely opposite. They are met with suspicion and fear, and suddenly the accent is not charming, it’s difficult to understand. The language barrier yields frustrations and cries that they should “learn to speak English”. That’s racism. Judgement based on prejudiced notions of race, culture, ethnicity, religion…without evidence. Why is it different for the Iraqi guy than it is for the Swedish girl? Or do people honestly believe that Europeans don’t immigrate to Canada anymore…?

This proves to be a good time to talk about multiculturalism in Canada and the perpetually fun question of Canadian identity. But I will point out that abolishment of the term of “visible minority” is a good thing. It doesn’t mean that all Canadians will no longer be white–it means that second, third and fourth generations, who are “visible minorities” will identify as Canadian, upholding Canadian culture and values. They will become Canadians. And isn’t that what we’re going for?

Alberta University Students Protest Fee Hike:

This item is included in today’s MashUp because it amazes me that there are apparently a LOT of people who think that University is a privilege and students should not be subsidized by taxpayer dollars. And since we do talk about the value of Education a lot, this is important.

Post-secondary education is no longer just a privilege for the rich in today’s world; it is a necessity for long-term sustainability and resources of a country. The globalized world is highly competitive and citizens who are critical thinkers, innovators, engineers, doctors etc elevates a country’s ability to compete. Post-secondary education provides better opportunities and creates critical skills that foster independence, creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit. That is not to say that people without University degrees can’t achieve these things on their own–but these people are exceptions, rather than the norm.

The job market reflects the value of the degree: This report from the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation shows that post-secondary students earn more money over the long-run than people with just high school diplomas–but this isn’t new information.

And yes, this includes Arts graduates. This is not the place to espouse the values of a liberal arts degree (which are known as Bachelor of Arts degrees in Canada) over a professional/technical degree/diploma but Arts graduates are found in all sectors of the economy doing a lot more than just “flipping burgers”. And that, by the way, has nothing to do with the value of the degree but rather how the person chooses to utilize their education.

But let’s not even argue the economic value of a degree–how about the value of education for education’s sake?

Dominion Institute Releases Report Card on Canadian History Classes:

Apparently, we don’t know anything about our own country. This fascinating report talks about the findings of this study commissioned by the Dominion Institute on how well high school students know or understand Canadian history. This report breaks down the results by province (for the record, Alberta received an F) on how well high school curriculums teach Canadian history.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has gone through the Alberta education system within the last 10 years or so. Dominion Institute argues that most history classes are rolled into “Social studies” which cover, not only history, but current events and political economics. There is an increasing focus on international development, global peace/justice/human rights, as well. That’s fine and vitally important for becoming global citizens, but it is equally important to have a firm grasp on this country’s past, achievements and disappointments, and policies, since that history does a better job of providing a reasonable framework to evaluate current issues.

Case in point: Aboriginal history. Think back to what you learned in grade school about Aboriginal peoples. Did you learn about the Treaty rights? How about the Indian Act and the impact on Aboriginal peoples. Or did you learn how Aboriginal peoples (generalization on purpose) learned to use all the parts of the buffalo, lived in teepees and made pemmican? (Cause that’s what I remember from 4th grade social studies…and that was the last time I remember learning anything about the history of Aboriginal people in Canada in a social studies class period). It wasn’t until university (yes, in my Arts degree) that we even touched Aboriginal issues (in a Canadian politics class).

Go download the report. It’s well worth reading just what high school students learn in Canada about this country of ours. And we wonder why people still think Canada is a mosaic multicultural wonderland that serve as the world’s peace keepers.

The Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children Releases Budget Assessment:

The Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children did an assessment of the recent Throne/Budget speech (March 3, 2010) on how the Conservative Party intends to deal with various children/family issues in Canada. The report is very extensive and worth reading. Check it out!

The End!

That wraps up the Friday MashUp for March 15-19, 2010. See you next week!

I thought this isolation of opportunities for engagement for rural youth would have dissipated by now but alas over the past couple years of engaging with youth in rural communities through my work at the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, I am still saddened to hear that youth are frustrated with the lack of opportunities as well as openness to the engagement of youth in the community. One of the things often not realized is that this lack of opportunitt to engage in positive activities in rural communities, opens the doors to engagement in the negative including drugs. I was shocked last summer when we had a roundtable of rural youth at the Global Youth Assembly to talk about their challenges of engagement when the youth stated:

Youth that have a unique identity different from the average feel really confined. Youth that have dreams of having an impact or taking social action feel marginalized.  They dream of just getting out as soon as they can rather than remaining connected to the community.

This resonated with me as it sounded like me… a number of years ago.  The youth conveyed a sense of frustration at living in a ‘closed community with little opportunity for innovative ideas and projects’.  Some indicated that they had given up trying to engage in their communities feeling that they had hit numerous road blocks and a genuine disinterest in the youth voice.  We heard that there was a need for positive spaces for youth to come together and to find a way to have their voices heard.

We have jumped to the call to start bringing these rural youth together both at the local level in their community but also at a provincial level.  We’ll be working to create a rural youth network as well as foster youth dialogues, leadership forums and activities in communities throughout the province. Keep an eye open for future activities!

Starting on April 10^th, we will be bringing together 35 youth from Lethbridge and surrounding areas (including Taber, Magrath and more) to explore human rights issues as well as focus on creating a plan for further youth engagement and action in the area. The leadership day in April is a starting point for ensuring the youth of the area have first hand engagement and direction of a future Rural Youth Forum (RYF) to be held in Lethbridge in the fall of 2010. These events are being planned with partner organizations such as the Aboriginal Youth Council of Lethbridge, Lethbridge Family Services, GALA and Amnesty International – amazing groups who are seeking to advance and promote human rights in this area of the province.

The RYF in October will gather approximately 150 – 200 youth aged 16 to 28 to participate in a full day of activities that are meant to bring a diverse group of youth together, generate awareness and discussion about local human rights issues, and provide tools and resources for rural youth to get engaged in their communities in positive ways.  The RYF Lethbridge is part of a series of RYFs planned throughout Alberta to ultimately develop a rural youth network, instill pride in rural cultures and communities, bring the rural youth voice to the decision-making table, and bridge the urban-rural divide.

If you or any youth you know would like to participate in this leadership day on April 19^th – please contact Lorinda Peel at lorinda@jhcentre.org or register directly online Lethbridge April 10 Poster. Space is limited, so please apply as soon as possible! It will be a full day of fun and motivation – we are looking forward to this being the start of something powerful!

Ms Widdowson is known for her controversial ideas regarding Aboriginal policies regarding education and the “Aboriginal Industry”, that has roused the ire of many. Her session description states:

Progress in aboriginal education is being thwarted by a self-serving “Industry” of non-aboriginal lawyers and consultants.

It is increasingly common to hear that aboriginal deprivation can be addressed by devolving control over education to aboriginal communities. This claim, however, fails to consider that there is no history of literacy, science and mathematics in aboriginal societies, and therefore little expertise exists to improve native educational levels. Pressure for this, in fact, has been orchestrated by a non-aboriginal “industry” that benefits from maintaining the indigenous educational deficit.

The Centre for Race and Culture (formerly NAARR) issued this press release protesting Ms Widdowson’s views about Aboriginal education that has the support of Aboriginal leaders, teachers, students, parents and scholars as well as non-Aboriginal academics and students from the University of Alberta.

While the conclusion that the ATA supports racism in Alberta schools (as the press release might suggest) is unsubstantiated, the John Humphrey Centre would like to point out that respectful education is a human right for all students, regardless of culture or race. Ms Widdowson’s assimilationist policies contradicts that view by implying that Aboriginal students can only succeed if they adopt Western cultural and educational values over their own.

Article 26 (2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

The project they’re currently working on is called the Street Speaks Mural.

Edmonton’s city hall is home to a new art project called Street Speak. It’s a collection of nine paintings that represent the voices of the homeless in words, doodles, pictures and symbols. — CBC

Edmonton by Kenneth Hynek

How many people know this? The City of Edmonton has a rather nifty site called: “Edmonton Stories“. The purpose of the site, in its own words:

To build awareness of our city, we’re uncovering the essence of Edmonton through the experience of Edmontonians. We’re collaborating with Edmontonians to share our truth by telling our stories

The John Humphrey Centre, in partnership with the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers and the City of Edmonton hosted the International Day for Sharing Life Stories back in March, 2009 and the experiences of 5 people who took part. Please go read their inspiring stories and explore others at the Edmonton Stories blog.

The Edmonton Stories blog is an interesting exercise of a municipal government taking an interest in the every day stories of citizens–as opposed to just the lurid, gory or depressing ones. Cynics will say that it’s just the City’s way of promoting idyllic images of a city that doesn’t really exist (and given Edmonton’s litany of problems, it’s a somewhat fair criticism. Also, what city do you know that is perfect?). But I like it. I think it shows a brighter side of Edmonton and allows us to take pride in our city from the point of view of people who are genuinely proud to be Edmontonian. For those of us working in rights-related professions (or anyone who reads the news, really), the world can be an extremely sad and depressing place where billions suffer hardships and violations to their human dignity (let alone every other aspect of their lives) daily and ceaselessly. This is a little glimpse of the good things in life, a reminder of how blessed we are  living in this city.

What’s your story?

Bolotwa, South Africa by Randy OHC

On Sunday February 07, we had our second Human Rights Cafe Dialogue at Three Bananas. We had a fairly good turn out and an even better discussion. The cafe was really supposed to be a discussion of the book Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo but alas, only 2 people really got more than 2/3rds of the book so the discussion was more on aid/development politics. However, the book did start the party and it was a good party!

For the most part, I think most of the participants agreed that Dambisa Moyo’s premise–that bilateral/multilateral developmental aid (aid that is provided to governments, usually through the World Bank or the IMF) is harmful. This system of developmental aid, basically enables corrupt governments to pocket most of the aid with less than something like 25% of it reaching its citizens.

We also had a really great discussion along the lines of holistic country-building, taking into the need for human dignity when working with communities on the ground yet looking beyond the immediate needs and small geographical areas towards building the entire nation, which requires a degree of sacrifice on the grassroots level (without forgetting that the poorest of the poor exist still). We also had a long discussion about meeting the Social, Cultural and Political pillars, not just the Economic one, as necessities in building a country. We also had a good discussion on various initiatives that have been tried (the value of micro-lending, for example) and whether or not most aid development programs are actually helpful or just charity in disguise (charity, which gives “hand outs instead of a hand up”, as one participant so eloquently put it).

I think the group agreed that charity is not the way to go since it does very little to foster sustainable community development. There is also an inherent harm to good intentions such as the clothing you donate to Value Village. This clothing, if it does not sell in Canada or wherever it originates, gets shipped to various African countries and are essentially resold to merchants who then sell it to the public for a cost. This has a negative impact on the community because these donated clothes now takes away the livelihoods of clothiers and tailors.

We also discussed extensively the need for foreign investment and foreign capital in African markets to jump-start the economy and to foster competitive innovation. There was also an idea floating around that African countries should have their own trading blocs (similar to ASEAN or NAFTA or even the EU in its original form).

Unfortunately, the discussion revolving around development in Africa takes a lot longer than 2 hours (and really, a lifetime) but Dead Aid was a good conversation starter. When I’m done reading the book, I’ll be doing a review of it and adding a few thoughts to it as well.
Next Human Rights Cafe: March 7th, same place, same time. Check out the Events page for more details.

See the News Article in the Advocate