man, some of the comments there remind me so much of something I would hear in America...like the word 'entitlement' leading toward 'lazy parasite' -- I don't recall ever hearing that in Canada...

Is this a part of the terraforming of Canada into stereotypical American conservatives without guns? ;3

are we going to start celebrating the 4th of July?  start mistrusting our governement?  believe religiously the right to arm bears?

Hi qwerty.

Precisely my point with the thread I started called WHO ARE THE OPPRESSED AND WHO ARE THE OPPRESSORS

As Canadians, we need to step up, reapair damage that has be

en dragged out for centuries.

One thing to be said for this present government: it's making the depth of the dysfunctions, cynicism, greed and denial painfully apparent… on every front yoiu can think of, from defence and dumping vets, to work and the economy to native issues, to poverty and health… hardly a stone left uncrushed. Even democracy is in the garburator.

Whizzz… another toxic smoothie on the way:

On 15 December — Saturday — Canada’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol takes legal effect. Canada will be the only nation out of more than 180 to legally exit the protocol.

And Attawapiskat is in the news again… Theresa Spence, chief of the First Nation community, began a hunger strike on Wednesday in the hope of pushing the Canadian government to meet its treaty obligations. “[We need] a partnership." she said. "… as we speak, our people are suffering because of the decisions that are made by the government.”

Hi qwerty,

Presuming (dangerously so I would imagine) that our National Church's website is at the forefront of United Church activity in Canada our three primary social justice initiatives are:

1)  Resource Extraction

2)  Indian Residential Schools and,

3)  Globalization and Empire

http://www.united-church.ca/justice

I have no idea if that buffet cycles with every visit to the link at the moment.  Each initiative has a hotlink to further info and more hotlinks.

I'm sure there is some of that.  The shoebox campaign wouldn't be as successful as it apparently is if throwing money (or more accurately a toothbrush, comb and bar of soap) wasn't considered to be good works.

The United Church of Canada's Gifts with Vision campaign is a step up in that regard

http://www.giftswithvision.ca/

Though, if we are being honest then it is still throwing money after a fashion.

One does wonder though, if a Gifts with local Vision option were available what would the response be?  Oh wait, Gifts with Vision does have local gifts that we can throw money at as well.

http://www.giftswithvision.ca/project/feed-family

Hopefully Mountain, ON is just an example and not the sole recipient of  the Feed a Family gifts.  I'll refrain from commenting on the fact that Mountain, ON is set in some good agricultural land and is located just 48 minutes south of Ottawa.  I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm not appreciative of all that the Federal Government does for farming.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Yes we need a "Canada Vision" to donate to, but of course that won't happen because we would actually be able to monitor and see for ourselves whether the money donated is benefiting the recipients.

Now I'm a little confused here. We have a thread started by Mike about the government hiring immigrant workers and the abuses that occur. We're advocating for Canadians to have the jobs AND for immigrants to be paid the same with benefits. Now at the same time we advocate for Canadian workers and others, are we not also in the same breath condoning the practices of the companies that are raping our land and destroying our rivers and lakes?

Which is it? Do we want to support the integrity and fair wages of workers employed by unethical companies that play with our health and welfare or do we want to support the integrity of our environment?

I guess I should have made this all one post but suddenly I come face to face with myself as I read these posts. Did I ever think the occupy movement was ever going to be effective? NO. Why because it focused on money and why some didn't have more access to it and money can't be had without accepting it from companies that place their money in the banks to invest.

I think for any movement to be effective it would take something that would cause all of us to suffer.(and I just don't mean a little) All governments have become corrupt to some degreee. We like to blame Harper or whoever for every scrutinized mistake along the way when in fact  we all contribute to the perpetuation of the greed. Oil greases the wheels of all the worlds mutual endeavours and we should be ashamed of ourselves by the very fact that we continue to support the madness with the love of our vehicles. I've become so cynical of the oil industry that I could even imagine the powers that be to have secretly justified chemically melting the Arctic in order to open the opportunities to exploit the virgin territory of the north. All the while accepting the collateral damage of some lives lost in order to justify enabling our passion for our love of fuel. ( I have no basis for this other than I know how far greed can take us)

An occupy movement that would grind the established current kingdom to it's knees? A unified decision to stop driving our cars for one week, then two weeks. (exempting emergency vehicles) Would we suffer? You bet we would. We couldn't get to our jobs, we wouldn't get paid, we couldn't go to the mall, we couldn't visit those far away, etc.... Sending a clear message that we refuse to participate in the ungodly exploitation of the earths  when technology is available to fill the void, has become a moot point. We have actually signed our own death certificate because we live for the now and have no clear vision beyond our own lives. Why should we care about a future generation of people that will be faced with unspeakable horrors if we will never know them? At this point of time they are only fictional and do not exist yet.

It's sad,  we speak of the Kingdom to come and sadly we already live in it, it's just not God's. And God help me, I don't know how to get out either.

Rant over.

Hi waterfall,

Well, as I pointed out already Gifts with Vision does have Gift options directed towards Canadians (or at the very least people currently dwelling in Canada).

As far as monitoring where the money goes that is part and parcel of throwing money at any problem whether we throw that money near or far.

Grace and peace to you.

Joh

What has to happen is direct repair of infrastructure, a fair distribution of natural resources and increased funding for education programs on reserverations.  It is not rocket science.

bump because this is important

Hi redhead,

I suspect that what you state as requirement is the bare minimum of that which needs to happen.

And while I agree, it isn't rocket science once you give anything to a bueraucracy it multiplies in complexity even quicker than rabbits multiply.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Here's an hour long program in general that isn't too pessimistic or ugly regarding our Native people who live in  cities. Perhaps it can provide a bit of information that some of us are unfamiliar with. Regarding the present day problem in the area of   housing the same problem arose last Dec. in this community  and it was never properly dealt with or solved by the gov't as I understand it.

CBC 8TH.Fire

More than half of Canada's Aboriginal population now lives in cities. They sometimes call themselves "Concrete Indians". And they are challenging stereotypes.

In the opening episode of the four-part series 8TH Fire, host Wab Kinew, from the Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation in Northern Ontario, and now a Winnipeg-based TV journalist, invites us to come "meet the neighbours". It's about time, since many Canadians say they have never met an Aboriginal person.

This vibrant kaleidoscopic hour, introduces se cast of Indigenous characters living in the cities. They are united in a shared bond as Canada's First Peoples and in their determination to reassert their culture within a wider population of non-Indigenous Canadians.

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire//2011/11/indigenious-in-the-city.html

I can't solve anyone's  problems but I did find this CBC series very informative and educational for those of us who are truly interested in the welfare of our aboriginal people. It is time consuming with each program runs about an hour.

I am  feeling  a great deal of sadness and discouragement  combined with faith and hope in the future as I watch this series. I'm not attempting to say life is wonderful for our aboriginals  because I have watched hellish videos and I've seen and read hellish stories over the years. There is no excuse and no reason why the Harper gov't has taken so long to properly deal with both the housing and the school issue in Attawapiskat. The  children are  on You Tube holding signs pleading for a school house. They are schooled in prefabs and portables since possibly 10 years now and waiting for a new decent school.

I agree with redhead that education is the key to a better tomorrow along with all the progress that has been made in healing the many hurts the people  have suffered.

Please see next post re the remaining series in the CBC  8TH Fire series.

Part2

Its Time

It's Time! challenges Canadians with this reality: if we don't improve our relationship with Aboriginal people, we will cripple our economy. Both the footage and the argument come in high definition and make the case that Canada is changing beneath our feet.

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire//2011/11/its-time.html

Whose Land is it Anyway ( Attawapiskat is promised a school building in 2013)

There's no getting around it. Land is the biggest sticking point in the relationship between Aboriginal peoples in Canada and the "settler" population. Who owns it, benefits from it, gets to say when, if and how it gets developed? These questions are all the more crucial because the lands in dispute sit on a treasure-trove of resources, which the world is eager to buy from Canada. But don't despair. This episode of 8th FIRE, full of breathtaking HD landscapes and compelling characters, explores the creative ways of working this out.

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire//2011/11/whose-land-is-it-anyway.html

At the Crossroads

At the close of the series, we meet young Aboriginals preparing to change the future, determined to light the 8th Fire and build a new relationship with Canada.

A fascinating range of artists, activists and business people take us through ways to shed the colonial past, build new pathways in education and economic development. This is all in pursuit of a new relationship to replace 500 years of conflict and injustices.

In a forest in Quebec, Huron Wendat Artist Teharihulen Michel Savard picks up a rifle and fires. His target: the 143 year-old Indian Act, colonial legislation that to this day governs the lives of most First Nations people.

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire//2011/11/at-the-crossroads.html

 Wonderful "Community" Comments on the series:

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire/community.html

Tough issues!  If United Churches took a courageous, activist stand on issues regarding First Nations people, most of the people who already have one foot out the door because of Northern Gateway or Israel/Palestine will keep going.

Another thread asked about expectations for church goers.  The lack of commitment by many members to seeking to be faithful followers of Jesus 7 days a week contributes to our inability to make a sgnificant difference collectively.

I missed participating on Monday in the protest held in Calgary, and am now regretting it.

The comment upthread about the Harper government crushing so much that is good about Canada resonates with me.  But what should we expect from a leader who used to attend Republican Conventions?

Here's something that could usefully be done in Canada… I'm sending the .pdf to the local politicians asking them to look into iy and make something equivalent happen here. You might like to share it around too…

It's a report on child poverty and recommedatuons from New Zealand:

http://www.occ.org.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/10154/Final_priorities_recommendations.pdf

The first step this report calls for — that the government "adopt a strategic framework for addressing child poverty, ensuring accountability for outcomes" — would require that child poverty be measured and setting some short and long-term poverty-reduction targets. It will mean coming up with meaningful child poverty-reduction indicators, and regularly monitoring and reporting results.

The strategy would have to adopt specific targets to ensure that Māori and Pasifika children achieve parity with other children.

Other Measures to mitigate some of the worst expressions of child poverty include establishing a "Warrant of Fitness" for all rental housing (both social and private sector); supporting a public-private-partnership micro-financing model with the banking sector and community groups, with the aim of providing modest low-interest and zero-interest loans, as a mechanism to help low-income families access affordable credit and effectively manage debt; supporting young people who are pregnant and/or parenting to remain engaged in education… etc.