TO. Greenspiration Events - making change

Sun Aug 30 21:52:05 EDT 2009

TO. Greenspiration Events

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No Games Toronto - Stop the bid for the 2015 Games!

Pan Am Sports Organization (PASO) coming to town to decide on bid --  
RALLY to stop the Games!

Monday August 31, 11:00 a.m.,
100 Devonshire Place, across from the UofT Varsity Stadium, just  
south of OISE on Bloor

Call out to the community to join us at the APUS office, the site of  
the $50 million Pan Am venue that will displace the part-time union.  
We will have speakers, free food and information on why we need to  
resist the bid!

Also on Sunday, August 30th, 11 a.m. to evening the No Games Flying  
Squad Bus will visit a few of the venues (Meet 11 a.m. @ APUS).

The estimated cost for the Pan-Am games in Toronto is already set at  
$2.4 billion. Yet, the most vulnerable and marginalized people are  
told that there isn’t enough money to assist them. All, three levels  
of government and the U of T have pledged either tens, or hundreds of  
millions into the Pan-Am Games. Meanwhile, there are more urgent  
priorities like public housing, keeping our schools and pools open  
and affordable post-secondary education.

This year, while planning for two Olympic Size sports facilities,  
costing upwards of $220 million for the Pan Am games, the University  
of Toronto raised tuition across the board. In addition, they  
introduced an unprecedented Flat Fee that will increase tuition for  
part-time students as much as 66%. One venue, the Centre for High  
Performance Sport, will displace the UofT part-time student union. If  
these plans go ahead, students will be expected to pay additional  
levies for both venues.

Twice in the past, the people of Toronto have been successful in  
preventing the Olympics from coming to town (i.e. 1996 and 2008  
games). We stopped it then and we can do it again! Mega-Sporting  
events wreak havoc on their host cities, displacing marginalized  
people, shutting down sectors of the city, bankrupting small  
businesses, demanding a large police presence, and in the end leave  
the city billions in debt.

We only need to look to Vancouver, which is scheduled to host the  
2010 Olympic Games. What was originally supposed to cost only $660  
million is now projected at $6 billion. With six months before the  
games begin there are already massive violations of civil liberties  
and homelessness has substantially increased.

When the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) comes to town there  
will be a two-day marathon of wining, dining, and showing off, where  
officials from all three levels of government will attempt to impress  
the five-member evaluation committee to secure Toronto’s 2015 Pan-Am  
bid. No Games Toronto, a coalition of community activists, plan to  
show our opposition on the 30th and 31st by letting PASO know their  
games are not welcome here.

Join our rallies (above) and send PASO the message that Toronto has  
more relevant priorities than Mega-Sporting events.

More information:  http://NoGamesToronto.blogspot.com

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Dandyhorse No. 3 is ready to pop!
Join us at the launch party

Mon. August 31, 7 pm, at the Gladstone Hotel (Queen and Gladstone)

Bike Art Dance Party

$10 admission includes the magazine and a raffle ticket for a limited  
edition print (of two) of original cover art by artist Elicser.

Celebrate summertime with our full-colour 48-page homage to the most  
beautiful machine in the world: the bicycle!
In this issue we have original art by Marlena Zuber, Darren O'Donnell  
and Chimo Chan, hot photos of bmx tricksters and fast women  
delivering packages, Clare Barry's "perfect commuter", pedal pooches,  
a behind the scenes look at the making of the Bicycle Film Festival  
trailer, a sampling of rockers who roll in the T-dot and a feature on  
cover artist Elicser who rides and writes all over Toronto.

We also go "behind bars" with cops on bikes, take a look at mechanic  
certification and both sides of the e-bike debate.

http://www.dandyhorse.com/

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  Waterlife

Don't miss this incredible film on the Great Lakes - a

Wed. September 2, 7 p.m. - Free

At the NFB - Richmond and John

Directed by Kevin McMahon, 2009, 109 min.
Winner, Hot Docs 2009 Special Jury Prize - Canadian Feature
A cinematic poem about the beauty of water and the dangers of taking  
it for granted. Meet director Kevin McMahon for a Q&A session  
following the screening.

The NFB Mediatheque and CIELAP present a new season of GREEN SCREENS-  
FREE films on the environment, the first Wednesday of every month at  
7 pm. Green Screens partners films from the NFB with experts and  
panellists selected by the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law  
and Policy. If you are interested in the environment, Green Screens  
will entertain and inform you.

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PEDAL FOR THE PLANET WELCOMES RIDERS TO TORONTO!

Thursday, September 3rd Pedal for the Planet welcomes riders from  
across the country to Toronto at 4 pm at Queeen's Park. The event  
includes speakers, entertainment, Oxfam Canada stunts, and an  
energetic send off for riders heading on to Ottawa to carry on our  
climate change message.

Oxfam Canada will be collaborating with Pedal for the Planet to  
perform a stunt to raise awareness on climate change. The stunt will  
simulate the impact climate change is having on women in developing  
countries. It will raise awareness around the issue of water scarcity  
and how women in developing countries have to walk greater distances  
to get one of life’s simple essentials – water. The performance will  
include a number of volunteers dressed as marathon runners carrying  
large water buckets above their heads in search of fresh water. It  
will simulate the 6km journey which women in developing countries  
must walk each day to collect water because of climate change.  The  
stunt hopes to grab the attention of the public to inform them about  
issues surrounding climate change, and pressure the Canadian  
Government to take action at the upcoming Climate Change talks in  
Copenhagen this December. See the free screening of Sisters on the  
Planet at Hart House at 7 pm.

Pedal for the Planet is a chance for individuals, organizations and  
communities to join together, to ensure that Canada does its fair  
share to tackle the climate crisis. Using bikes, trains and other  
modes of green transport, Pedal for the Planet will demonstrate our  
personal commitment to change, and relay our expectations for a fair  
Copenhagen climate treaty on to Ottawa. (http://kyotoplus.ca/pedal/)

SISTERS ON THE PLANET

KYOTOplus and Pedal for the Planet present Sisters on the Planet, an  
inspiring new film by Oxfam on the impact of climate change on women  
in developing countries. Speakers Dorothy McDougall, Dewan Afzal.
Thurs. Sept. 3, 7-9 pm
Hart House Debates Room, U of T.
Free.
See Sisters on the Planet description
http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/climate-change/take-action/sisters- 
on-the-planet/

www.kyotoplus.ca/pedal

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 From Earthroots

Annual Changing of the Seasons Ceremony in Temagami
September 18th-21st, 2009Over the weekend of September 18th, 2009  
Alex Mathias, an Ojibway Elder, will host his annual Changing of the  
Seasons Ceremony to celebrate the fall equinox on his traditional  
family territory in the Temagami region of Ontario.  All welcome.  
http://earthroots.org/index.php/component/option,com_events/Itemid, 
101/agid,5/day,18/month,09/task,view_detail/year,2009/

Temagami's Old-Growth Forests Under Threat
Click here to send a free fax to the Minister of Natural Resources  
demanding increased protection for Temagami's threatened wilderness.

Help make the Rouge Park a National Park!
Please click here to learn more about the issue and to send a letter  
to the government telling them why it is so important to make the  
Rouge a national park.

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