Congress
of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2005
The National Film Board
showing will begin at 9:00 a.m. Followed by a Panel Discussion.
A Panel
Discussion
The Take
Millions of people around the world are living in
poverty because of Third World debt and multi-national corporate rule. In the
wake of Argentina’s spectacular economic collapse in 2001, Latin America’s most
prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and
mass unemployment. The Take is about the “little people” taking on corrupt and
indifferent officials. The film strikes a strong blow for the dignity of labor.
Heartened by the success of these workers, we invite those
who aspire for change in our own context, to join us.
“This film had
a poignant impact on my work in London, where I struggle daily to feed those
who go without – to find food that is not pesticide laden and has traveled
further than this film takes us.
I
really wanted to share this stirring portrait of hope in the Argentines’
campaign and how they inspire us to act globally and locally. We have a
wealth of fuel for this fire if only our voices could ring out in solidarity.”
Session Coordinator Rose
White
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Rebecca is a committed social activist with a long history
of experience in the student movement, the women's movement and the peace
movement, as well as in the teacher federation and faculty
association work. She was a candidate for the NDP in the last Ontario
provincial election. Rebecca Coulter has worked as a schoolteacher and a
university professor and is currently employed in
the Faculty of Education at The University of Western Ontario. Her teaching and
research reflect her commitment to social justice and equity, and focus, in one
way or another, on questions linked to political consciousness and
action.
The Honourable Marion Boyd
Marion Boyd, a proud and dedicated feminist, is active in a
myriad of causes, including student politics, anti-war protests, day care
advocacy, union organizing and administration, multiculturalism, same sex
rights, and anti-poverty campaigns. Marion built a national and international
reputation for her expertise on violence against women and providing public and
professional education throughout Canada. Marion served as Minister of
Education, Minister of Community and Social Services, Minister Responsible for
Women's Issues and as the Attorney General with the Government of Ontario.
Marion is the Coordinator and Chair of the Task Force on the Health Effects of
Woman Abuse. Marion is a lifetime ex-officio Bencher of the Law Society of
Upper Canada; she chairs the Access to Justice Committee and is a member of the
Equity and Aboriginal Affairs and Government Relations committees, as well
as being an active member of the Paralegal Task Force. Marion
recently completed a report for the Ontario government on the use of the
Arbitration Act for resolving family law and inheritance disputes.
Mr. Carrie brings with him a deep understanding of the
challenges of a system that ghettoizes all workers quality of life as the price
for doing business. Tim started working for Firestone Steel in 1979 as a
production worker and was elected Plant Chairperson in 1986. He served five
three-year terms at Firestone (now Accuride) and was elected President of our
Local Union in 2002. Through the CAW Social Justice Fund, he visited
Nicaragua in 2002 and and Ethiopia in 2004. While in Nicaragua he had the
opportunity to meet with several organizations both labour and community
groups, and toured a textile plant during the stay. As the President of CAW
Local 27, he represents over 7000 workers in Auto Parts, Health Care,
Locomotive, and a host of other workplaces that are directly affected by
globalization, and privatization. “I believe I bring some first-hand
experiences with the issues that are raised in the film. Employers in Auto
Parts and others are consistently pressuring us to roll back the clock in the
name of competition. Hospitals are contracting out services to private
companies in order to supposedly cut costs.”
Robin is a Professor of Economics at American University. He is
the author of Economic Justice and Democracy (Routledge, 2005). In
it he argues that establishing and expanding producer cooperatives is an
important part of eventually replacing the economics of competition and greed
with the economics of equitable cooperation. It is important to understand why
worker managed firms face an uphill battle to remain commercially viable and
preserve their cooperative values, and why building cooperatives must be
combined with struggles for economic reforms. The Take offers an inspiring
glimpse of how the producer cooperative movement can grow in the midst of a
serious economic crisis.
Stewart Perry
Stewart has many roles in Community Economic Development in
U.S. and Canada. He has offered his expertise as a consultant to rural &
urban communities, government agencies; as a researcher, teacher; and CEO of
CED technical assistance and advocacy centres. He helped establish a
social investment advisory company that placed $2 million of
socially responsible private funds in affordable housing and other projects in
the U.S. As a senior policy analyst in Wasington D.C., he designed and
launched the first federal program for CED for the U.S. and later for
Canada. As director of the Centre for Community Economic Development he
established funding for legal research to design a local financial corporation
for the state of Massachusetts. He helped organize the
Massachusetts Association of CDCs in order to successfully advocate passage of
the CDFC legislation. He has published widely in the field; including Communities
on the Way (State University of New York, Albany, 1987) and Reinventing
the Local Economy (Centre for Community Enterprise, Vernon, B.C., 1994)
Current research interests are evaluation and building the social
infrastructure of CED.
Stan Raper
Stan is the National Coordinator for United Food &
Commercial Workers (UFCW). He coordinates five Migrant Agricultural
Worker Support Centers in Canada that provide free services to migrant
agricultural workers. These centers have Spanish-speaking staff that provide
assistance with emergency hospital translation, workers compensation, OHIP,
CPP, Employment Insurance, banking, and ESL or FSL classes. Training in health
and safety and know your rights work is also available. UFCW Canada currently
has three legal challenges before the courts 1) health and safety coverage for
all agricultural workers in Ontario; 2) the right to unionization challenge
before the Ontario courts— currently legislation unconstitutional; and 3)
Employment insurance premiums being paid by migrant farm workers who can not
collect regular benefits.
This panel discussion was coordinated by Rose
White of LIFE*SPIN in community with:
Canadian Auto Workers
Local 27
National Film Board of
Canada
Society
for Socialist Studies
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