AGM & Conference, Nov 7th-9th, 2014 in Toronto

“Our AGM & Conference Weekend is happening THIS WEEK November 7th-9th, 2014 in Toronto! DON’T MISS Sunday’s Conference!!!

Special guests include:

Keynote Speaker Joanna Kerr from Greenpeace. Kerr is presently the chief executive of anti-poverty agency ActionAid International in Johannesburg, South Africa, that works in almost 50 countries with a global staff of 2,800 people. Previously she was a policy director at Oxfam Canada and the executive director at the Association of Women’s Rights in Development.

“Stopping climate change and environmental degradation are the most urgent priorities of my generation,” said Kerr. “For over two decades I have worked for economic empowerment and human rights for women and the most marginalized people around the world, an agenda now undermined by climate related causes.”

A native of Toronto, Kerr holds a Bachelor degree in African Studies from the University of Toronto and has a Masters in Gender and Development from the University of Sussex.

“We’re very excited to welcome Joanna to Greenpeace Canada,” said Sue Birge, chair of Greenpeace Canada’s board of directors. “She brings exceptional leadership and passion at a time when the national and global political context is so challenging.”

Kerr succeeds Bruce Cox at Greenpeace Canada who decided to take a sabbatical before returning to work in the environmental movement. Cox presided over a period of exceptional growth in Greenpeace, helping launch an oceans campaign in 2006, a tar sands campaign in 2007 and, more recently, the highly successful Arctic campaign.

Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver in 1971, when a crew of 12 sailed to Amchitka, Alaska intent on shutting down U.S. underground nuclear tests there. Although a bomb was still detonated, the daring trip sparked global condemnation and nuclear testing ended shortly thereafter. The island was later declared a bird sanctuary.

Today, Greenpeace promotes science-based solutions for the planet with the support of 2.8 million supporters worldwide. Greenpeace Canada has offices in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal, as well as staff based in Yellowknife, Sherbrooke, Quebec City and Halifax.

“Stopping climate change and environmental degradation are the most urgent priorities of my generation”

Emily Gilbert from the University of Toronto
Gilbert is an Associate Professor, cross-appointed between the Canadian Studies Program and the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto… “I am an Associate Professor cross-appointed between the Canadian Studies Program at University College, and the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto. My current research deals with questions relating to citizenship, mobility, borders, security, and militaries. I am engaged in two primary research projects. The first is an examination of battlefield compensation that is being made in cases of inadvertent death, injury and property damage.

These practices are interesting in and of themselves, but I also have a broader concern for how war restructures the ways that lives are valued (or not), from claims made in response to acts of terrorism, to compensation for military veterans. A second line of inquiry is on the changing politics of the Canada-US border. I examine the ways that border risks–economic and social–are being used to discipline behaviour and promote new forms of citizenship practice. The impact on migration and mobility is of particular concern.

Other research that continues to interest me, but for which I have less time, concerns transnational currency arrangements, such as the proposals for monetary union between Canada and the US. My work in this area has drawn upon a range of cultural and political theories and methodologies to critically interrogate the nature of money–and especially its spatial organization. Visual and literary representations–local, national and transnational–are another area of fascination and inspiration.

She has become interested in the militarization of the Arctic, as border politics heat up because of the impacts of climate change.

Sheila Zurbrigg an Independent Health History Teacher.

I’m a physician, I’m also, in the last number of years, a health historian. I conduct research and teaching on the history of health in relation to changes in access to food in relation to all hunger historically.

“The implications of global warming for the modern portion of this health trajectory are enormous, with climate destabilisation affecting global weather systems, rain patterns, agricultural harvests, and thus directly food security.The risks are profound, and most poorly understood amongst ‘northern’ societies, the principal drivers of climate change.”

There will be BEAUTIFUL music to be heard this weekend:

Sarah Marlowe will be performing with her band Davaar at the Friday Night Informal Dinner at Friend’s House.

Eve Goldberg will be performing in our night to honour peace workers at the Saturday Night Awards Dinner.

** There are a few tickets left for the Awards Dinner, Saturday Night November 8, 2014**

REGISTER NOW, click here.

For further information please click the links below:

Informal Dinner & Music – Fri Nov 7, 2014 – HERE
Awards Dinner – Saturday Night Nov 8, 2014 – HERE
Conference, Conflict and Climate: Changing Course NOW! – Sunday Nov 9, 2014 – HERE

VOW REGULAR MEETING – NOV 8 >>> DETAILS HERE