Network News – Connexions Digest #51
(May 1990)


Actions and campaigns

500 years after Columbus
Native Peoples and their friends are engaging in a campaign to oppose the planned official celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ first landing in the Americas in 1492. Against the claim that Columbus “discovered” America, and that his arrival is something to celebrate, they are characterizing the arrival of whites as a disaster for Native Peoples which led to the destruction of their communities, their cultures, and their way of life. One of the starkest facts underlining the extent of the disaster is contained in the population statistics. In 1492, the population of the Americas was estimated at 80 million; by 1650, the Native population was about 4 million.
One organizing effort is the “Self–Discovery of America” campaign, now active in several countries, which seeks to address the concerns of all the social and racial groups who have experienced social and cultural destruction under colonialism.
For more information about this and other campaigns, contact Kai Visionworks, Box 5490, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1N7, or the Latin American Working Group, Box 2207, Station P, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2T2, (416) 533–9940. Kai Visionworks has an information package available for $3; LAWG has an “1992 – Self–Discovery of America” file.
(CX3830)

Campaign for Nuclear Phase–out
A number of organizations across the country have joined together to launch a campaign to press for a phaseout of nuclear power and uranium mining. A major focus of the campaign will be to obtain federal legislation forbidding new reactors or reactor exports and new uranium mines or uranium export contracts. For more information contact Elizabeth Brubaker, Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout, 225 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2M6, (416) 978–7014.
(CX3831)

Excess Packaging Campaign
A number of community and environmental groups across Ontario have come together in an Excess Packaging Campaign co–ordinated by Environmental Action Ontario. The campaign is especially targetting throwaway packaging and overpackaging by fast food restaurants and supermarkets. The aim is to have local groups put pressure on local businesses and on politicians to make changes to reduce the amount of packaging. Contact Environmental Action Ontario, 456 Spadina, 2nd floor, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2K5, (416) 929–2499 for more information, or for the name and number of your local group.
(CX3832)

Environmental Agenda for Ontario
The Ontario Environment Network is co–ordinating the writing and production of an Environmental Agenda for Ontario. A preliminary outline is now being circulated and comments and input are being sought. Contact the Ontario Environment Network, 456 Spadina Avenue, 2nd floor, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2G8, (416) 925–1322.
(CX3833)


Appeals for support

Canadian Overseas Assistance
The One Sky Centre is asking for financial support to help it cope with funding cutbacks. One Sky and other learner centres have had their levels of support reduced by the Canadian International Development Agency, which was hit by budget cutbacks by the federal Progressive Conservative Government. One Sky is also urging people to write letters to the government opposing the cutbacks to the Overseas Development Assistance budget, which is forcing reductions in Canadian aid to the world poorest nations. For more information, contact One Sky, 136 Avenue F, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7M 1S8, (306) 662–1571.
(CX3834)

Trees for survival
Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief, a medical relief and development organization dedicated to promoting better health in rural communities in the Third World, is sponsoring an ongoing tree–planting program in Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, and Angola. The goal is to help reverse the trend to rural deforestation and desertification. CPAR is seeking donations to support this program. Contact CPAR, 64 Charles Street East, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1T1, (416) 961–6786.
(CX3835)

Barricada Canada
Barricada Canada, the Canadian working group supporting the Sandinista newspaper Barricada Internacional, is mounting a campaign to attract additional Canadian subscribers for the paper. It especially wants to encourage organizations to purchase bulk orders of the paper to distribute to members of the group. The paper is available in English and Spanish, and at the bulk rate are available for $1 each. Contact Barricada Canada, Box 398, Station E, Toronto M6H 4E3, (416) 534–5556.
(CX3836)

Yugoslav left oppositionists
A group of Yugoslav activists, organized in the Radical–Left Party of Yugoslavia, is seeking contacts, correspondence, and cooperation with people in other countries who share similar beliefs. The group would like to receive publications from abroad. The group describes itself as being opposed to nationalism and patriarchy, and in favour of defending the rights of women, lesbians and gays, and the working class. It supports political, social, cultural, and sexual liberation. The group points out that materials sent to Yugoslavia must still pass the official censor’s office. Correspondence can be addressed to Ms Sormaz Vesna, Alekse Nenadovica 25/V–16, 11000 Belgrade Yugoslavia.
(CX3837)


Comings and Goings

Lesbian and gay studies
A new organization, the Toronto Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies, has been formed to foster lesbian and gay studies across Canada, especially emphasizing gay and minority studies. The Centre has published its first newsletter, Centrefold, and plans a series of conferences, lectures, and other activities. Membership in the Centre is $25 regular, $10 student/unemployed. For more information contact The Toronto Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies, 2 Bloor Street West, Suite 100–129, Toronto, Ontario M4W 3E2.
(CX3838)

Global Education Training
Peace Education Network offers one day seminars to teachers of History, English, Social Sciences and Media Literacy. “Images For A Peaceful Planet” includes strategies for introducing peace–related issues into the classroom, using film in the learning process, and for sharing experiences. In “Learning To ‘Read’ The Media” you will explore how media ‘reality’ is constructed, discover how the images we hold shape our perceptions of the world and influence our sense of what is possible for the future. For more information contact: Peace Education Network, 494 Victoria Avenue, Montreal Quebec H3Y 2R4.
(CX3839)

Multicultural films
The Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) and the Ontario Film Development Corporation have announced a Multicultural Dramatic Film Fund. The project, initiated by OFDC and administered by LIFT, is to provide grants to dramatic, independent filmmakers from visible, cultural, and/or linguistic minorities. The film project itself need no be about such issues. For more information contact Lloyd Wong at LIFT, 345 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5V 1R5, (416) 596–8233.
(CX3840)

Nonviolence Resource Centre
A new organization, the Nonviolence Resource Centre, has begun operation in Argenta, British Columbia. The Centre’s goals are to engage in education for non–violence, and to provide resources for creative action. The NRC intends to address itself to specific problems now occurring in British Columbia, but will be able to mail videos and literature throughout Canada and the U.S. Contact the Nonviolence Resource Centre c/o General Delivery, Argenta, British Columbia V0G 1B0.
(CX3841)

Planned Parenthood scholarships
The Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada is offering its annual scholarship for graduate studies in reproductive health. The scholarship is open to university graduates who intend to work for a higher degree in the field of reproductive health in disciplines such as biology, Canadian studies, education, history, medicine, psychology, social work, or sociology. Contact PPFC Scholarship Committee, 430 – 1 Nicholas Street, Toronto, Ontario K1N 7B7, (613) 238–4474.
(CX3842)

Organic grains
A group of organic farmers have launched a cooperative to meet the growing demand for organic grain. The OntarBio Organic Farmers’ Cooperative will help organic farmers process their grain and bring it to market. For more information contact Ontarbio Organic Farmers Cooperative, Box 224, RR 1, Durham, Ontario N0G 1R0.
(CX3843)

Name change
The Canadian Environmental Law Research Foundation has changed its name to the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy. They are at 400 – 517 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M6G 4A2, (416) 923–3529.
(CX3844)

Lesbians, gays and psychiatry
Phoenix Rising, “Canada’s anti–psychiatry magazine”, is looking for submissions from lesbians and gay men related to their experience is mental hospitals or psych wards. Drawings, black and white photographs, and stories are welcomed. Send to Phoenix Rising, Box 165, Station A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1B2.
(CX3845)

Canadian Peace Alliance
Bob Penner, the co–ordinator of the Canadian Peace Alliance, is leaving to take up the position of Director of Development at Greenpeace. Bob is being replaced by Sheena Lambert as co–ordinator of the Canadian Peace Alliance.
(CX3846)

C.L.R. James
C.L.R. James, a political activist, novelist, cricket writer, Marxist intellectual and revolutionary, has died in Trinidad at the age of 88. As a young man in Trinidad, James wrote short stories, a book in favour of Trinidadian independence, and the acclaimed novel Minty Alley. A cricket player, he became the cricket writer for the Manchester Guardian when he moved to England in 1932. His Beyond a Boundary is considered a classic book on cricket. In England, he also wrote The Black Jacobins, a history of the Haitian revolution, and World Revolution, a history of the Comintern. Politically, James became a leading figure in the Trotskyist movement, and was became editor of the journal International African Opinion. In 1938, James came to the United States, where he was active in radical politics until he was forced out of the country during the McCarthy period in 1953. His most lasting political work was as part of the Marxist group Facing Reality, which argued that the Soviet Union was an extreme form of oppression that negated Marxian ideas of socialism.
(CX3847)

Myles Horton
Myles Horton, a civil rights activist who founded the Highlander Folk School, one of the most influential training grounds for the U.S. labour and civil rights movements, died in January at the age of 84. The school was attacked by its opponents as being a “finishing school for communists”, producing students and ideas which spread like “a cancerous growth” throughout the U.S. South. The State of Tennessee raided and padlocked the centre in 1959, but it was re–opened and still continues today as the Highlander Research and Education Center. According to Horton, “if you want to change people’s ideas, you shouldn’t try to convince them intellectually. What you need to do is get them into a situation where they’ll have to act on ideas, not just argue about them.” (For more of Myles Horton’s reflections, see elsewhere in this issue.)
(CX3848)

Hal Draper
Hal Draper, a socialist writer and scholar whose political activism ranged over half a century, died in February at the age of 75. Involved in student activism in the 1930’s, Draper helped to inspire the Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkeley in 1964, one of the first and most important events of the Sixties radical upsurge. He was involved in the Trotskyist movement in his earlier days, working as an organizer for the Young People’s Socialist League in the 1930’s, and as a shipyard worker during the Second World War. He was one of the founders of the Centre for Socialist History at Berkeley. His writings include the four–volume work Karl Marx’s Theory of Revolution. One of his most influential works was the essay “The Two Souls of Socialism”, which argued that there were two fundamentally opposed views of what socialism was: the one, which saw it as something to be imposed from above, the other, which say it as something that could only be created democratically from below. (See excerpts from “The Two Souls of Socialism” in this issue.)
(CX3849)

Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford, the social philosopher and historian died in January at the age of 94. Mumford was known for a wide range of achievements, including his critical writings on planning and on technology. On technology, he once said that “It is not the apparatus of the machine that’s wrong, but the organized cult of machinery that is really evil. It is a monster that can transform man into a passive, purposeless animal. It can run away from him.” He said that he feared that a “dominant minority” which wielded power through its control of science and technology, would set in motion forces for the creation of a “uniform, all–enveloping superplanetary structure, designed for automatic operation”, something he called the “megamachine”. Mumford was one of the first modern city planners, and made his early reputation in that field. He opposed the building of large expressway systems as destructive of city life. Mumford’s books included The City in History, The Story of Utopias, Technics and Civilization, Green Memories, The Myth of the Machine, and The Highway and the City.
(CX3850)


Meetings, Conferences, Events

Day of Mourning
April 28 is set aside as a Day of Mourning for Canadian workers who are killed, injured, or disabled at work. More than 1,000 Canadian workers are killed on the job each year, and many more suffer injuries or illnesses due to work. The Day of Mourning is also intended as a day to renew pressure for tougher occupational health and safety standards.
(CX3851)

Great Lakes United
The annual meeting of Great Lakes United takes place May 4 – 6, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The meeting’s purpose is to develop policies and plans aimed at the enhancement of the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River ecosystem. Events include a Toxic Tour, a Wetland Tour, a Birdwatchers’ Tour, as well as a range of presentations and panel discussions. Contact Great Lakes United, Cassety Hall, State University College at Buffalo, 1300 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, N.Y. 14222, U.S.A., (716) 886–0142.
(CX3852)

Citizenship Training and Development
The Canadian Association for Adult Education is sponsoring a full day workshop on May 9 at the University of Ottawa to discuss efforts to establish a network of Canadians interested in citizen training and development. For more information contact Canadian Association for Adult Education, 29 Prince Arthur Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5R 1B2, (416) 964–0559.
(CX3853)

Leadership in housing
The 22nd annual symposium of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association will be held May 13–16, 1990 in Ottawa. Contact: Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, Box 3312, Station D, Ottawa, Ontario, (613) 594–3007.
(CX3854)

Lesbian and gay studies
The Toronto Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies is holding the following meetings, at the Education Centre, 155 College Street, Toronto: “The Age of Light, Soap, and Water: The Canadian Social Purity Movement”, by Mariana Valverde, author of Sex, Power and Pleasure, Monday May 14, 7–9pm. “Male Homosexuality in Central America”, by Ian Lumsden, Atkinson College, York University, Monday June 11, 7–9pm. For more information contact the Toronto Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies, Suite 100–129, 2 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M4W 3E2.
(CX3855)

Preserving our planet
The World Federalists of Canada and the U.S. World Federalist Association are having a joint meeting on May 17 – 20, 1990 in Ottawa, on the theme ‘Preserving Our Planet’. The meeting is to discuss strategies for contributing to tomorrow’s just new international order. Contact World Federalists, 207 – 145 Spruce Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1R 6P1. Registration is $30.
(CX3856)

Severe Handicaps Alliance
The Severe Handicaps Alliance for Public Education (SHAPE) will hold an international conference entitled Shaping Alternative Futures: Strategies to Facilitate Integration in Edmonton, May 23–25, 1990. Contact: Jeanne Carter, Shaping Alternative Futures Conference, Alberta Education Response Centre, 6240 – 113 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6H 3L2, (403) 422–0221.
(CX3857)

Women and Environments
The Women and Environments Education and Development Foundation is presenting a conference on Charting a New Environmental Course on May 24–26, 1990, at the University of Toronto. The conference will focus on women’s perspective on the environment. Topics include Women, Environment, and Development around the World, I Do Make A Difference, and the State of the Planet. Several fields trips are being organized as part of the conference. For registration information contact Women and Environments Conference, 26 Morrow Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6R 2J2, or phone Nicolle Smith, (416) 533–4076. Conference facilities are wheelchair accessible.
(CX3858)

Environment 2000
Environment 2000 Conference: The Environment and Third World Sustainable Development will be held May 25 – 27, 1990, at the University of British Columbia. Workshop topics include The Fuelwood Energy Crisis and Desertification and Rural Development. Contact the Canada–Africa International Forestry Association, 2995 Waterloo Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6R 3J4, (604) 731–2545.
(CX3859)

No More Secrets
Community Resources and Initiatives is holding a conference “for professionals to explore the intersecting dimensions of childhood trauma, survival strategies and revictimization”, under the title “No More Secrets”. May 25–28 in Toronto. For more information contact Community Resources and Initiatives, 285 Markham Street, Toronto, Ontario M6G 3S9, (416) 323–1328.
(CX3860)

Working class history
The Committee on Canadian Labour History is holding a symposium on Canadian Working Class History on May 26, 1990 in Victoria. Registration is $12. For more information contact E.W. Sager, Public History Group, University of Victoria, British Columbia V8W 2Y2.
(CX3861)

Ecology and Culture
To See Ourselves, To Save Ourselves, is the theme of a conference on Ecology and Culture in Canada being sponsored by the Association of Canadian Studies, to be held at the University of Victoria on May 31 – June 1, 1990. Contact Susan Hoeltken, ACS, C.P. 8888, Succ. 4, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3P8, (514) 987–7784.
(CX3862)

Consumers’ Association
The Consumers’ Association of Canada is having its Annual Conference on June 3 in Montreal. The conference theme will be Consumers in the 90’s — Choices for the Future (Food, Health, and the Environment). Registration is $150. For more information contact the Consumers’ Association, Box 9300, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 3T9, (613) 723–0187.
(CX3862A)

Women and power
A conference on Women and power will take place in Montreal June 3 – 8, with workshops on the economy, media, politics, peace, science, senior citizens, sexuality, etc. Speakers include Nicole Brossard, Yoland Bedard, Marilyn French, and women from Italy, Morocco, Japan and Venezuela. Contact FRAPPE, (514) 521–0152.
(CX3863)

Veterans Against Nuclear Arms
Veterans Against Nuclear Arms is holding its national convention June 5 – 8 at the University of British Columbia. Registration is $60. For more information contact Lois Boyce, 211–6551 Minoreu Blvd., Richmond, British Columbia V6Y 1Y4, (604) 731–9365.
(CX3864)

Securing the future
The Canadian Peace Alliance is holding its membership convention in Calgary, Alberta from June 8 – 10, 1990. Speakers, workshops and discussions will focus on the theme of developing ideas for alternative security. Low cost accommodation and childcare, wheelchair accessibility, and signing for the hearing impaired will be available. Travel costs to be shared equally by delegates. Non–delegates are also welcome. For more information contact: Alberta Bound Convention Committee, 5007 Barron Cr. N.W., Calgary, Alberta T2L 1T8.
(CX3865)

Communities and Environment
The United Nations Association in Canada is presenting a conference on Communities and the Environment to be held June 8 – 10 in Toronto. This national conference will launch a series of events across Canada to promote public awareness and participation in environmental protection leading up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. The conference focus will be on developing community–based solutions that encourage citizens’ initiatives and actions where they live. Special emphasis will be placed on involving Canadian environment and development NGOs in the mobilization process. Contact United Nations Association, #116, 2 College Street, Toronto M5G 1K3, (416) 929–0990.
(CX3866)

EnviroFair
The Ontario Science Centre is holding an EnviroFair as part of its Environment Week this June. The Fair will run from June 8 to June 10. Environmental and conservation groups are invited to participate. Contact Andrew Mccammon, EnviroFair Co–ordinator, Ontario Science Centre, 770 Don Mills Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3C 1T3, (416) 429–4100.
(CX3867)

Rural mental health
The Second International Rural Mental Health and Addictions Conference is to be held June 11–15, 1990 in North Bay, Ontario. The conference is sponsored by the Canadian Rural Network, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and Canadore College. The conference will feature a First Nations Day to allow delegates to discuss significant services issues and alternatives for Native communities. For information contact Wayne Auchinleck, c/o Network North, Community Mental Health Group, 680 Kirkwood Drive, Sudbury, Ontario P3B 1X3, (703) 675–9192 x314.
(CX3868)

Social objectives for the 90’s
The Board of Governors of the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) will hold a one–day consultation with members and friends on Friday June 15 to ask, “What are the most important social objectives for the 1990’s and what can we do to meet the objectives?” The consultation will emphasize participation through focussed working groups. The location is the University of Ottawa. Contact Sheryl Lanthier, CCSD, 55 Parkdale Avenue, Box 3505, Station C, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4G1, (613) 728–1865. The cost is $20 for CCSD members, $70 for non–members.
(CX3869)

Move–A–Thon
Toronto’s third annual Move–A–Thon for the Environment is being organized by Citizens for a Safe Environment, to be held June 17, 1990. For more information contact Citizens for a Safe Environment, 765 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario M4M 1H3, or phone Aine Suttle, (416) 466–5696.
(CX3870)

The WILD conference
WILD, a non–profit organization dedicated to the survival of earth’s wild places through the publication of maps and handbooks, will be holding a working conference to edit and update maps and to discuss strategy and action towards avoiding ecological catastrophe. The conference will be held at the University of Hawaii East West Centre on June 17–23, 1990. For more information contact: WILD c/o Western Canada Wilderness Committee, 20 Water St., Vancouver, B.C. V6B 1A4 , (604) 669–WILD.
(CX3871)

Human Settlements
The Centre for Urban and Community Studies at the University of Toronto is organizing an international colloquium June 21 – 23 on the theme Human Settlements and Sustainable Development. Points to be addressed include differences in sustainability among and within industrialized and developing regions; the pressure points of shelter, food supply, water, waste, energy, transport and health; demographic and institutional factors in managing sustainable settlements. For more information contact Centre for Urban and Community Studies, Room 426, 455 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2G8, (416) 978–7067.
(CX3871A)

Ontario Environment Network
The Ontario Environment Network is holding its Annual General meeting June 22 to 24, 1990, at Operation Break Camp, on the banks of the Black River, near Tweed Ontario. Contact the OEN at 456 Spadina Avenue, 2nd floor, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2G8, (416) 925–1322.
(CX3872)

Peace in El Salvador
Thought and Action: Universities and the Search for Peace in El Salvador is the theme of a conference being held at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, June 22–26, 1990. At the conference, speakers from the Universidad de El Salvador and Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simon Canas will give their analysis of the current political situation. Participants will discuss ways in which Canadian universities and others can offer support to universities in El Salvador. For registration information contact Centre for Peace Studies, DC–237, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1. Phone (416) 525–9140 x 4729. Bitnet: PEACE@MCMASTER, PeaceNet: WEB:MCPEACE.
(CX3873)

Human rights programme
The Canadian Human Rights Foundation is organizing a teacher–training course in human rights and multicultural education to be hold in Montreal June 26–29, 1990. The programme’s goal is to “train trainers” and prepare teachers for human rights and multicultural education in Canadian schools. It has been conceived to give participants a global vision of human rights principles and institutions. Registration is $150. Contact the Canadian Human Rights Foundation, 3465 chemin de la Cote–des–Neiges, B. 301, Montreal, Quebec H3H 1T7, (514) 932–7826.
(CX3874)

“Beyond Survival: Healing the incest wound”
Victims of incest are invited to attend a healing weekend at Pigeon Hill Bruideen Peacemaking Centre in St. Armand Quebec. An intimate and intensive weekend of group and/or individual therapy will take place in a cozy home environment. Among the highlights will be a focus on intra–psychic group work, overcoming disassociation and the use of psychosynthesis. For more information contact Rosemary Sullivan, Pigeon Hill Bruideen Peacemaking Centre, St. Armand, Que. J0J 1T0 (514) 248–2524.
(CX3875)

Environmental values education
The Harmony Foundation is sponsoring an eight–day intensive program for environmental educators July 27 – August 3, 1990 in Ottawa. Participants will examine Canadian and international themes, issues and values and various techniques to address them in their teaching programs. For more information contact Deborah Hine, Harmony Foundation, 19 Oakvale Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 3S3, (613) 230–7353.
(CX3876)

Council of all beings
A “council of all beings” — “an opportunity to reconnect with the earth, our natural rhythm and energy for healing ourselves/the earth” — will be held at Pigeon Hill Bruideen Peacemaking Centre, St. Armand, Quebec J0J 1T0, August 3 – 5, 1990. Contact Pigeon Hill at 1965 St. Armand Road, Pigeon Hill/St. Armand, Quebec J0J 1T0, (514) 248–2524. Also at Pigeon Hill, on August 10 – 12, a session of Psychosynthesis for Social Change.
(CX3877)

Bioregional congress
The fourth North American Bioregional Congress will be held August 19 – 26, 1990 on the Gulf of Maine. For more information, contact North American Bioregional Congress, 61 Maine Street, Brunswick, Maine 04011, U.S.A.
(CX3878)

Occupational health congress
The 23rd International Congress on Occupational Health will take place in Montreal September 22 – 28, 1990. For more information contact OCOH Secretariat, 58, rue de Bresoles, Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 1V5, (514) 499–9835.
(CX3879)

Canadian Environment Network
The Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Environmental Network has been scheduled to take place October 12 – 15, 1990 in Ottawa. Contact Canadian Environment Network, P.O. box 1289, Station B, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5R3, (613) 563–2078.
(CX3880)

Recycling Council
The Recycling Council of Ontario will be holding its annual conference October 14 – 17, 1990, in Windsor. The conference theme is the challenge of reaching 25% waste diversion by 1992. For more information contact Renee Lagasse, Conference Co–ordinator, #504 – 489 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5, (416) 960–1025,
(CX3881)

Sustainable development conference
An international conference with the theme “Sustainable Development Strategies: The New World Agenda”, is being held October 18–20, 1990, in Winnipeg. Contact World Environment, Energy and Economic Conference, 409 – 1181 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3G 0T3, (204) 945–7973.
(CX3882)

Metro World ’91
Toronto is hosting a conference in June 1991 which will bring together public interest groups, professionals, governments officials and industrialists, to discuss an urban environmental strategy which will in turn be presented to the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil in 1992. Non–governmental organizations are being invited to participate. Metro World will also fund ten demonstration projects from around the world that have an urban environmental success story to tell in any of the theme areas of the conference (housing, feeding, moving, communicating, working, managing, financing, clean–up.) For more information, contact The Economic Development Division, Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, Office of the Chairman, 390 Bay Street, 4th floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3Y7. The Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy is interested in promoting the involvement of non–governmental organizations in the conference. Contact: Barbara Heidenreich, Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, 400 – 517 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M6G 4A2, (416) 923–3529.
(CX3883)


Publications and Resources

Films about women
The National Film Board has announced its new selection of films and videos focusing on Women, including “A Mother and Daughter on Abortion,” a film about the complexities of the abortion issue; and “Sonia” a film about Alzheimer’s disease. For more information contact: The National Film Board of Canada, Customer Services, P.O. Box 6100, Station A, Montreal Quebec H3C 3H5, or call the NFB office in your area.
(CX3884)

WILD Maps
The WILD (Wilderness Is the Last Dream) Project initiated by Western Canada Wilderness Committee is a non–profit organization which produces maps of the earth’s great wild places which are in danger of destruction. For more information contact: WILD c/o Western Canada Wilderness Committee, 20 Water Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 1A4, phone: (604) 669–WILD, fax: (604) 683–8229.
(CX3885)

Great Lakes Water Quality
The International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes has released its fifth biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality. The report concludes that human health is threatened by the presence of even low ambient levels of persistent toxic substances in the Great Lakes, and urges that immediate action be taken. The Commission found that sixteen Great Lakes wildlife species near the top of the food web have suffered reproductive problems or declines in populations, and states that the consumption of certain Great Lakes fish poses a threat to women of child–bearing age. Contact the International Joint Commission, 100 Ouellette Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9A 6T3, (519) 256–7821.
(CX3886)

Alive in the Nuclear Age
The National Film Board has just released a new anthology of a dozen short programs, available on two 75–minute videotapes, dealing with nuclear fears, nuclear technology, and the arms race, entitled Alive in the Nuclear Age. The collection, which comes with a teacher’s guide, is designed to help start discussions with young people, ages 11 and up. For more information, contact Jan Clemson, Education Representative, National Film Board, #300 – 1045 Howe Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 2B1, (604) 666–3838.
(CX3887)

Guideposts for a Sustainable Future
Guideposts for a Sustainable Future is a multi–media kit which provides an introduction to the challenge of achieving environmental sustainability. The Guideposts kit consists of includes a 23–minute video, a 200–page book, and an introductory discussion format. The kit attempts to find answers to the question “Can we find a way to live now that will also allow coming generations to live healthy, fulfilling lives?” Available from Guideposts, Box 374, Merrickville, Ontario K0G 1N0. The price varies from $35 for members to $100 for institutions. Guideposts has a rather bizarre approach to pricing: those who already agree with Guideposts for a Sustainable Future, and who are willing to sign a form stating that they do, can order the kits at 50 per cent off the retail price, while those who don’t know whether they agree or not have to pay full price. These people clearly place more priority on preaching to the converted than on reaching out to those who still need to be persuaded.
(CX3888)

Kropotkin’s Conquest of Bread
Black Rose Books has republished The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin, the Russian anarchist, with an introduction by George Woodcock. This is the latest volume in the Collected Works of Kropotkin which Black Rose is publishing. Kropotkin described The Conquest of Bread as “a study of the needs of humanity, and of the economic means to satisfy them”. He envisioned a society in which men and women, joined by the natural bonds of cooperative effort, would be rid of the artificiality of bureaucratic states and massive industrial complexes.
(CX3889)

E–Sheet
Environmental News Service is a company which is producing a new resource called E–Sheet: The Environmental Newsfax. The two issues Connexions received consisted of a single sheet containing mainly one–paragraph news briefs, plus a couple of five– or six–paragraph pieces. E–Sheet is available by fax, electronic mail, or regular mail. Contact Environment News Services, #710 – 340 West Cordova Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 2V3, (604) 687–6397.
(CX3890)

Community development curriculum
Community Development with Immigrant Women: A Course for Community Workers, is a new curriculum kit available from the Cross Cultural Communication Centre. The kit presents a model which can assist community workers in developing and implementing workshops or courses on community development with immigrant women. The kits are $7. Contact CCCC, 2909 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario M6P 1Z1.
(CX3891)

Pagan Directory
Obscure Pagan Press is producing a new edition of the Directory to Canadian Pagan Resources, which is described as “the only comprehensive directory to resources for Witches, Dianics, Faeries, neo–Pagans, Druids, and other spiritually attuned to Nature and the Goddess and Old Gods in Canada.” Newsletters, gatherings, bookstores, covens, and individuals can be listed free of charge. The Directory will cost $3 each. Contact Obscure Pagan Press, Box 86134, North Vancouver, British Columbia V7L 2L9.
(CX3892)

Community Water Development
The Intermediate Technology Development Group of North America has published a new book, Community Water Development, which presents come of the best material from leading researchers and practitioners in rural water supply in developing countries. Topics covered includes sources of supply, pumping methods, transport and storage, as well as education and training. There are sixty articles; with the emphasis on human concerns and community–sensitive approaches to water supply problems.
Also available is Women and the Food Cycle, which contains case studies looking at traditional food processing.
Both are available from I.T. Publications, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10007, U.S.A. Community Water Development is $19.50, Women and the Food Cycle is $11.50 (U.S.)
(CX3893)

Resignation from IMF
A former permanent official of the International Monetary Fund accuses the Fund of “covert harassment and underhanded intimidation” since his resignation two years ago. Davison L. Budhoo, an economist from Grenada, resigned in 1988 to protest the Fund’s treatment of development countries. When he resigned, Budhoo submitted a lengthy open letter to the IMF Managing Director, Michel Camdessus. This Open Letter, which has now been published by New Horizons Press, provides numerous examples of how the Fund’s policies unnecessarily hurt Third World peoples, especially poor women, children, and other vulnerable segments of society. He charges that the IMF has consistently forced countries to follow self–defeating policies that are economically, socially, and politically unsustainable. Enough is Enough is available from New Horizons Press, Suite 9A, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10017, U.S.A., for $19.50 U.S.
(CX3894)

Peace camps
Volunteers for Peace Inc. publishes a directory of hundreds of peace camps in Eastern and Western Europe. Send $10 U.S. to 43 Tiffany Road, Belmont, Vermont 05730, U.S.A.
(CX3895)

Military bases
Bases and the Military: An Introduction to Foreign Military Presence, is a 42–page booklet from John Miller on the military, social, and economic consequences of military bases. $4.40 from Foreign Bases Project, Box 15073, Brooklyn, New York 11215 U.S.A.
(CX3896)

U.S. peace activism
The Winston Foundation for World Peace has published the Annual Review of Peace Activism 1989. $9 from WFWP, Box 351, Boston, MA 02215, U.S.A.
(CX3897)


Volunteers Wanted

Phoenix Rising
Phoenix Rising, an alternative anti–psychiatry magazine in Toronto, needs 2 or 3 volunteers with some magazine experience to join its editorial collective. A person with business and administrative skills is needed immediately. People who have been ‘psychiatrized’ and are interested in helping out should contact Phoenix Rising, Box 165, Station A, Toronto Ontario M5W 1B2.
(CX3898)

Canada World Youth
Canada World Youth is now recruiting Canadians and landed immigrants between the ages of 17 and 20 for exchange programs with developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. You’ll spend seven months with other young people from across Canada and from the exchange country, doing volunteer work in community development, agriculture, or social services. For more information contact Canada World Youth, 386 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1X4.
(CX3899)



Compiled by Ulli Diemer. Connexions Collective members and volunteers for Issue #51 (May 1990): Ulli Diemer, Elizabeth Wall, Karl Amdur, Elaine Farragher, Ethel Mead, Lois Enns, Cynthia Dunham, Rosalie Smith.