Enviro Election; Portlands bike tour; summer festival; retreat

[angela bischoff]

1.
Community Meeting in Toronto: Environment and Energy Organizing for the
Provincial Election

* please forward*

Please come to a community meeting to discuss organizing in Toronto for
the October 10, 2007, provincial election around energy and environment
issues.  All are welcome! 

WHEN:  Wed. July 11, 2007, 6-8pm

WHERE: Riverdale Public Library

NW corner of Broadview and Gerrard

(you can take College/Carlton/Gerrard, King and Dundas streetcars from
downtown or Broadview Station)

 WHAT: Community organizing for the provincial election around energy and
environment issues.  Draft agenda includes: what campaigns are underway
and what is being planned, update on party platforms & info sharing on
nominations, etc., how people can plug in, discussion of coordinating
efforts, and next steps for action.

 WHO: Everyone welcome!  This meeting has been called by the Campaign for
a Clean Green Energy Future
(<http://www.voteforcleanenergy.ca/>www.voteforcleanenergy.ca).

 For more info, call:

Sarah Dover at (416) 537-3966

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2.

Portland Ecological Bike Tour and Picnic

July 12, 2007 (thurs) -  10:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Meet up: South Riverdale Community Health Centre,
955 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON M4M 3P3

Portland, the large piece of water front land in between Leslie and Cherry
Street, will be the site of Toronto's major development project. Yet, this
piece of land has a lot of significance...

- Leslie Split has turned itself from a construction debris dump site to
become birds haven, with diversity higher than Algonquin.

- It has a long mark left by the industrial era of Toronto, with toxics
still in its soil.

- A history of pollution, in the past and in the present

- a vigorous site of ecological entanglement, between the community and
government, including the tug-of-war for whether of not what facilities
should be built there: the most recent: the cherry beach tree cut...

- An urban wasteland for Toronto people to take break

- a site of hope as communities actively involved in the future
development as well as ready to action watch-dogs.

Please tell me if you are coming. If you do not have a bike, there may be
a few for going around. Pls email Sau Wai or call her at
647-287-8752.

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3.

Aleila Festival
of expressive & healing arts
Come co-create a Sacred space with us!
August 10, 11, 12, 2007

Welcome lovers of earth, song, movement. celebration and of life within
community!  

You are invited to the 10th Annual Aleila Festival! This year we are
excited to focus the festival towards: flow, ease and joy with innovative,
experiencial playshops & workshops and lots of time in which you can relax
and enjoy the beautiful river, the waterfalls, the people, the sky and
stars. 

Bringing together a magical group of people with inspirational
facilitators to celebrate mid-summer, the power and beauty of our own
expression, community and healing. Our intension this year is to anchor
community.
2007 facilitators are being confirmed in the next week, with the details
following soon.

At the Aleila Festival we celebrate Oneness.

Itinery
Friday eve there is an opening circle ceremony where we honour into our
midst what is possible. Saturday and Sunday workshops and experiences and
nature deepen our personal connection to creation and healing. Saturday
night is a wonderful evening of performances, creations from workshops and
eloquent improvisations.

We conclude on Sunday afternoon with a closing ceremony. Those with
commitments leave by 4pm or decide to cancel and stay on!

Sunday Eve Sweat Lodge
Costs a little extra, though as all those who have given this extra night
to themselves in the past know... it is well worth it!

Location: The Land & The Stars - Perseid's meteor Shower!
Located near Parry Sound, about a 3 hour drive from Toronto is "The Falls"
a gorgeous 200 acres on the Canadian Sheild on the Manitouwabing river - 
waterfalls, meadows and forest.  The Perseids Meteor showers peaks on
August 12th at a whopping rate of 50-100 meteors per hour. So, the sky
show will be lit up for us!

Facilities
Simple, full camping overlooking the river, no cabins for sleeping in.  A
central building for some programs and indoor space, with a covered
outside area. Programs also in a large tent, and a kids tent.
Freezer and some fridge space available along with a sink/counter/tables
and water. 

Weekend passes include food Friday eve, and lunch on Sunday. You can bring
your other meals or -
RE: Catered meals for whole weekend, we need to know by July 15 - send us
an email. There is a possible chef who may be able to accommodate a full
weekend of food preparation, we need to know asap to hire this person and
figure out costs.

e-mail darinka at darinka.ca for more information, visit the web-site at
www.LivingUniversity.com
<<http://www.LivingUniversity.com>http://www.LivingUniversity.com>  

Festival Fees: 
Friday 4 p.m. – Sunday 4 p.m. 
Includes all workshops, camping & facilities.
Dinner Friday evening & Lunch on Sunday. 

Adult: $250.00
Family 2 adults + 1 child or youth $395.00
Child (4-12)   $50.00
Youth (13-21) $100.00

ADD: Sunday Evening Sweat-Lodge, dinner & Monday breakfast
Adult $55.00
Family $85.00

Send cheques payable to:  
Living Education Institute
1 Copeland Ave. 
Toronto, ON
M4C 1A9
Early Bird Registration 15% off before July 5.

Much love and hugs please pass this on!

Darinka & David, Tamalei and  Saskia

416-694-8444
darinka at darinka.ca
www.livinguniversity.com

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4.  From the Centre for Social Justice, Toronto

We would like to extend a special invitation to join us once again for the
10th Annual Social Justice Summer Retreat.  The event will be held at Camp
Arowhon in Algonquin Park from August 23-26, 2007.

Our theme for the 2007 Retreat is 'Empowering Movements to Transform the
World: Canada, Justice or Just Us?' This year we hope to strengthen links
with grassroots and community-based social justice organizations from the
Global South - we are expecting several international guests that are at
the forefront of social movements in their region of the world. We will be
discussing Canada's role in relation to the mining industry, environmental
sustainability, alternative banking, food security, and global warming -
among other topics. Aside from plenary sessions, this year's program will
have four streams: roundtable discussion sessions, skill-building
workshops, open space and personal development sessions. As in past years,
there will also be free time at the waterfront with swimming, boating, and
nature trails, as well as evenings filled with music, campfires, and story
tellers.

As always, please feel free to bring your family - childcare is provided
by camp staff for children aged 3+ during hours when there is retreat
programming. This year there will also be a youth leadership program for
ages 12-18 facilitated by the Students for Social Justice.

Registration will be opening soon - preliminary registration information
is available at the bottom of this page.

We greatly value the unique perspectives and ideas you have brought to the
Retreat in the past - we would love to have you join us to celebrate our
10th anniversary in 2007.

Warm Regards,

The 2007 Social Justice Summer Retreat Organizing Committee

--

See below for further registration info:
      Early bird registration (before July 20) $195 each
      Regular registration $215 each
      Children 5-12 years $90 each
      Children 2-4 years $60 each
      Children 0-2 FREE

As in past years, there are a limited number of subsidies available -
please see our website for details.
http://www.socialjustice.org/subsites/summerretreat/index.php
Round trip transportation by bus will be arranged (from Downtown Toronto)
at a cost of $40/person. We also try to coordinate carpooling - please see
our website for details.

For more information, email the Retreat Coordinator (Ewa Cerda) at
<mailto:retreat at socialjustice.org>retreat at socialjustice.org. You can also
call the Centre for Social Justice directly at 416-927-0777 or toll free
at 1-888-803-8881.

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