Riversong 2: Concert for the Kichi Sibi - Ottawa River
2024-11-22 18:30 - 21:30 (America/Toronto) | First United Church, 347 Richmond Road, Ottawa
Come and join us for an evening of inspiring music from our guest artists: folk music icon Ian Tamblyn; singer-songwriter Pat Mayberry; lead singer and songwriter of Juno Award-winning Kobo Town, Drew Gonsalves; Celtic group Dolas; Just Voices Choir; and Kebaowek First Nation Singers and Drummers.
Let’s celebrate the power of music to bring people together for a good cause – to support Kebaowek First Nation’s legal challenge against a nuclear waste facility soon to be built next to the Ottawa River.
Ten Algonquin First Nations and their allies, many environmental groups, municipalities and residents have repeatedly said ‘No!’ to the Chalk River radioactive waste dump – but it was approved anyway. Having the free, prior and informed consent of First Nations to dispose of hazardous waste is a moral and legal obligation. Kebaowek FN has taken the federal government to court to protect their rights and the Kichi Sibi that is the water source for millions of Canadians. Proceeds of this event will go directly to fund Kebaowek’s court battle.
The evening will include a silent auction with many beautiful donated items. Please join us from 6:30 to 7 PM to get your seat (no reserved seating) and check out the auction items. Bidding will continue during the refreshment break.
Find out more about Kebaowek First Nation’s cause and Indigenous knowledge of the Kichi Sibi at stopnuclearwaste.com. To donate to the Kebaowek campaign, please visit the RAVEN charity.
Mark your calendars for Friday, November 22 and get ready for a night to remember! We thank all the musicians, who are generously donating their time and talents.
We recommend buying tickets in advance. Seating is limited. (Cash, credit/debit and e-transfers accepted at the door if seats available.)
(c) Original artwork by Destiny Cote, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg (cropped for use with this page). We are grateful for the support of the First United Church of Ottawa, its WaterCare Allies, and Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area.

I Will Sing and Be Brave: A concert for Trans Day of Remembrance
2024-11-23 17:30 - 20:00 | Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 290 Lisgar Street, Ottawa
Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is internationally recognized on November 20th every year. This day was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. This concert will honour those we have lost, lift up those who are struggling, celebrate gender euphoria, and recognize the continued fight for safety and equity of trans, non-binary, and gender diverse people throughout the world.
Join us after the concert as we strengthen our community over a soup-and-bread dinner.
The concert will be approx. 50 mins, with the dinner starting at approx. 6:30pm. Dinner is included for all audience members, volunteers, and performers, and will include gluten free, dairy free, and vegan options.
The Carleton Dominion Chalmers Centre is a wheelchair accessible space. For more information about access, parking, and transit, please visit https://carleton.ca/cdcc/visiting/
Please contact info@tonecluster.ca if you have any questions.
Ticket costs are “Pay What You Can”; please choose the amount that works for you.

Unity on the Field Soccer Tournament Fundraiser
2024-11-24 08:00 - 17:00 | Orleans Dome, 6588 Carrière St, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Join the PYM, SJP Carleton, and INSAF uOttawa for a community soccer fundraiser to raise money for the Palestinian Youth Movement’s International Fundraiser: The People Stand With Gaza!

Help us fundraise for our people in Gaza in partnership with the Canadian Palestinian Federation of Quebec (CPFQ), a non-profit that is working on the ground providing essential service to displaced families in Gaza.

For all players who want to take part in this tournament, register (link below) your team to play or sign up as an individual and we will assign you a team.

Everyone is welcome to attend, watch, and cheer on your team! Make sure to also check out our educational tables to learn more about the Palestinian soccer team.

🗓️ Saturday November 30th
⏰ 2:30-6:30PM
📍Orleans Dome 6588 Carrière St
🔔Registration Deadline to Play: November 27th

Register here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/u/1/d/e/1FAIpQLSc9rklh1uKyor3hlEof7m8MiF-zjYco5sPC9ha-MW9uQ1C8Mg/viewform

Payment: E-transfer to pymottawa@gmail.com
Registration is only confirmed when payment is made

Queer and Trans Anti-Hate Fireside Chat
2024-11-25 17:30 - 19:00 | ACEP/CAPE, 350 Albert Street, Suite 1800, Ottawa, ON, K1R 1A4, Canada
Join us for a fireside chat on the role of workers, unions and social movements in combating rising homophobic and transphobic violence from the far right.
Hosted by the CAPE Equity and Education Committees, our speakers will speak to the realities and challenges faced by queer and trans people inside and out of the workplace, and explain why combating anti-queer/anti-trans hate and exclusion is a crucial workplace and union issue – for all of us.
The evening will feature a conversation between dedicated activists, including:

Fae Johnstone, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Society of Queer Momentum;
Celeste Trianon, transfeminine jurist and activist; and
Emily Quaile, activist with Community Solidarity Ottawa.

This event comes to you with support from CAPE’s newly formed Queer and Trans Workers Equity Caucus (QTWEC). Come out on November 25th to hear more about QTWEC – and to find out how CAPE members can join the caucus and get involved in this work!
RSVP
Monday, November 25
5:30 pm to 7 pm ET
Hybrid event – CAPE office and Zoom
Note the capacity of approximately 35 people in-person, first come first serve.
For people attending in person, a light dinner will be served.
If you selected to attend in person but our capacity has been reached, you will receive a Zoom link to attend online instead.
Interpretation will be provided.
Bios
Fae Johnstone has dedicated her life to advancing equality, freedom and rights for queer and trans people. With over a decade of advocacy under her belt, she is a force to be reckoned with and one of Canada’s most prominent queer human rights advocates. As Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Society of Queer Momentum, Fae is on a mission to mobilize advocates and allies toward a more free, equal and socially just future. Within her advocacy, she travels across Canada supporting queer advocates and allies on the ground, gracing conference stages and building bridges with allies and sibling movements in every province and territory. Fae has received numerous awards and accolades for her work, including serving as Grand Marshal of the Ottawa Capital Pride Parade in 2023 and National Grand Marshal of Saskatoon Pride in 2024. She was also on a chocolate bar.
Celeste Trianon is a transfeminine jurist and activist, active across Turtle Island but residing in the unceded, stolen lands traditionally in the custody of the Kanien’kehá:ka. Active at both the grassroots and in the courtroom, she runs various access-to-justice initiatives throughout her home province of Québec to make life easier for trans people of all ages and backgrounds. When she isn’t holding a pen, a mic or a megaphone, she can be spotted cycling around, enjoying a cheap meal and good urbanism.
Emily Quaile is a Masters’ student at the Institute of Political Economy, completing her thesis on political consciousness and the rise of fascism in Canada. She is a queer mom and an active community organizer resisting hate in our streets. She served as an executive board member of her local, CUPE 4600, and continues to forge links between grassroots and institutions. As a former theatre artist, Emily brings an interdisciplinary focus to her academic and activist work.

Film Screening: Where Olive Trees Weep
2024-11-26 19:00 - 21:00 | First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, 30 Cleary Ave, Ottawa
The Justice and Equality Action Group of First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa invites you to a screening of Where Olive Trees Weep: No One Is Free Until We Are All Free.
Filmed in the West Bank in 2022, this documentary portrays the everyday experiences of Palestinians resisting dehumanization, violence, and erasure at the hands of the Israeli occupation. Featuring Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, Israeli journalist Amira Hass, and Canadian trauma expert and Holocaust survivor Dr. Gabor Maté.
First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, 30 Cleary Ave.
Tuesday, November 26, 7pm. Doors open at 6:30pm.
Free admission, donations welcome
Afnan Kaid, who is studying Human Relations and Spirituality at Saint Paul University while serving as Student Association president, will speak before the screening.
For more on the film and to watch the trailer, visit https://whereolivetreesweep.com.

TEACH-IN: The Regional Dimension of the Palestinian Struggle
2024-11-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Ave, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Join us on Thursday, November 28th at 7 PM for a teach-in on the regional dynamics of the Palestinian struggle. In this session, we will explore the role that various regional forces and political actors play in the Palestinian struggle, the connections and tensions between them, and how they fit within the imperialist system. This session will explore how key regional forces—including Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran—shape the Palestinian struggle, along with the impact of the US-Zionist alliance on the region.
Together, we’ll confront essential questions: Who are our allies? Who opposes us? And how does the broader regional landscape affect our path toward liberation? Dive deeper with us into the influence of regional actors, the ways imperialism drives strategies across the region, and the role of competing tensions within the wider resistance. Registration required!

Please Attend December 3 Online Court Hearing to Stop Moe Harkat's Deportation to Torture
2024-12-03 10:30 - 17:00 | Ontario
On Tuesday, December 3 at 10:30 am, the Federal Court of Canada will be judicially reviewing the Canadian government’s perverse decision that recommended deporting Ottawa resident Moe Harkat to torture. While Moe has lived in Canada for almost 30 years, and the case against him is seriously flawed beyond belief, it is appalling that Canada continues to persecute him and his wife, Sophie.
Santa will be watching, and Santa hopes you will be too.
Since International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2002, Moe has been subject to the medieval, human rights violating secret hearing security certificate regime, under which secret allegations are made but you have no real right to contest their substance, much less face your accusers.
The hearing will be broadcast online, and we would appreciate it if you are able to attend some or all of the day-long hearing. For the weblink, please contact Matthew at Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture at tasc@web.ca as soon as possible (and no later than Monday at 12 noon), as space will be limited.
For background on Moe’s case, please read https://rabble.ca/…/canadas-slow-drip-torture-refugee…/
If you have not signed and shared our petition yet, visit https://www.change.org/…/help-stop-my-husband-s…
Thanks!
Matthew BehrensStop Canadian Involvement in Torture

Challenging Canadian Complicity in Israeli Apartheid
2024-12-04 19:00 - 21:00 | St. Paul Amphitheatre, 233 Main Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S1C4, Canada
The Education for Liberation Collective invites you to a popular education event designed to help us better understand the political, institutional, and corporate connections that sustain Canada’s complicity in Israeli apartheid.
Challenging Canadian Complicity in Israeli Apartheid
🍉 Wednesday December 4
🫒 7pm-9pm (doors at 6:30pm)
📍 Saint Paul University Amphitheatre, 223 Main St.
🔗 Register to Attend IN PERSON https://actionnetwork.org/events/complicity/
🔗 Register to Attend ONLINE: https://tinyurl.com/EFL-complicity
✨Featuring✨
Rana Nazzal Hamadeh, Palestinian artist and filmmaker
Dan Sawyer, Punchup Collective
Rachel Small, World Beyond War Canada
The event will speak to the following key questions:
– Why does Canada choose to maintain its complicity in Israeli apartheid?
– What are concrete examples of complicity in the Canadian economy, arts and culture, and beyond?
– What are some local strategies and opportunities to join together to collectively challenge this complicity?
We hope to help provide inspiration and concrete ideas to challenge Canadian complicity and take action in solidarity with Palestinian liberation movements, emphasizing the role of collective grassroots efforts through Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS).

35th Annual December 6th Vigil
2024-12-06 18:00 - 20:00 | Minto Park, 315 Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
On 6th December 1989, 14 young students at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal were murdered. They were murdered because they were women.
Each year, we gather to hold a vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal Massacre, as well as each life taken by violence against women and gender-based violence in our community since the previous year.
The Women’s Event Network of Ottawa seeks to raise awareness of the phenomenon of gender-based violence in our society. This is an opportunity to acknowledge the courage and strength of survivors, and to reflect on how we can eliminate violence against women and gender-based violence in all forms.
Outdoor Vigil: Minto Park (Elgin & Gilmour) on Friday, December 6th 2024 6PM

Gingerbread House Decorating - A fundraiser for Gaza
2024-12-07 09:30 - 11:30 | Social Innovation Atelier, 95 Clegg St, Ottawa
Join us for a cozy morning of gingerbread, icing and sweet treats!
Every registrant will receive a gingerbread house ready to decorate, with lots of tasty and colourful decorating options. Vegan options available.
This event is geared towards kids, but anyone is welcoming to register and decorate a gingerbread house!
Sliding scale cost of $15-25 (Parents/care givers do not need to register). Free coffee and hot chocolate. Register: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/gingerbread-house-decorating-a-fundraiser-for-gaza
Proceeds will be donated to organizations supporting relief efforts in Gaza.

Rally for a Better Budget!
2024-12-11 09:00 - 23:00 | 110 Laurier Avenue W, 110 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON, K1P 1J1, Canada
Un texte français suit)
Higher transit fares, neglected services, and more money for police. This budget does NOT look good, and we need to call for better.
Join us and several other organizations on Wednesday, December 11th at 9:30 a.m. in front of City Hall to rally against budget austerity and demand that the mayor and city council amend the budget to reflect the community’s priorities!
RSVP for the rally here:https://www.horizonottawa.ca/rally_for_a_better_budget_2025
//
Des tarifs de transport en commun plus élevés, des services négligés et plus d’argent pour la police. Ce budget n’a PAS l’air bon et nous devons réclamer mieux.
Rejoignez-nous et plusieurs autres organismes le mercredi 11 décembre à 9h30 devant l’hôtel de ville pour vous mobiliser contre l’austérité budgétaire et exiger que le maire et le conseil municipal modifient le budget pour refléter les priorités de la communauté!
RSVP pour le rassemblement ici :https://www.horizonottawa.ca/rally_for_a_better_budget_2025

Protest: Free the People, Free the Land - Occupation is a crime from Lebanon to Palestine
2024-12-14 14:00 - 17:00 | Human Rights Monument, 220 Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
OTTAWA – Join us on Saturday December 14th as we take to the streets again, demanding an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Canada’s continued complicity.
The north of Gaza remains under a complete siege, and so-called safe zones, like Al Mawasi, where Palestinians who have been displaced countless times in the last year live in tents, continue to be targeted. Our people continue to be massacred by the Zionist entity, whether it’s by bombs falling on their tents, snipers aimed at infants, the forced starvation, the lack of access to medical care, or the pounds of rubble that they’ve been buried under.
We know that, no matter what is done to us here, it is nothing compared to what those in Gaza are living through and giving up for our liberation. So we will continue to show up for our people. No matter the circumstances, we stand with Gaza, side by side.
DATE: Saturday 14 December
TIME: 2pm
LOCATION: Human Rights Monument

Pique
2024-12-14 17:00 - 2024-12-15 02:00 | Club SAW, 67 Nicholas St, Ottawa, K1N 7B9
Pique is a forward-thinking, artist-driven quarterly event series featuring eclectic musical, visual and multimedia artists, produced by Debaser. As the days grow colder, Pique winter edition is heating up the Arts Court with innovative music and arts presentations on December 14, 2024. The 15th edition of Ottawa’s signature underground art party brings together groundbreaking music, visual, and interdisciplinary artists for a building-wide festival at the Arts Court in downtown Ottawa. Experimental and underground music, media art installation, food and artisan vendors and more will be showcased across six stages and exhibition spaces. Admission is pay-what-you-can and all-ages.

People Stand With Gaza Fundraiser
2024-12-15 17:00 - 20:00 | Mosaic Convention Centre
Join us on Sunday December 15 at the Mosaic Convention Centre from 5 PM to 8 PM for an art and culture fundraiser. We will be raising money for our international fundraiser, the People Stand With Gaza, in partnership with Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Quebec (CPFQ), a charitable foundation founded by Palestinians for Palestinians.

A local singer will perform resistance songs, delicious finger foods will be offered, and a wide range of donated art pieces will be auctioned off in support of the fundraiser. We will also be exhibiting local photographers’ work marking 1 year of mobilizing and organizing in Ottawa.

Register here – Limited spots available:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScT45ZtvYxp0wjqjoohANimdccLCHLuY1eyJ_w7NUIK2WMJeA/viewform

Please note that your spot will not be reserved until payment is made.

Donate art here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScfwP7QDKTarIU7eIxkkxW7CJCq1ndV0AvQSMgX7YcOZA9dcw/viewform

Film Screening - My Friend the Terrorist: A Tale of Love and Revolution
2024-12-16 18:00 - 21:00 | The Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St, Ottawa, K1S 3X3, Canada
In the 1960s Jose Maria Sison founded the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the CPP’s guerrilla-military arm, the New People’s Army (NPA), among other noble and nefarious activities that led to his Philippine passport being revoked in 1987. To the US State Department, the Philippine government, and some European authorities, Sison is a certified terrorist.
With his wife Julie (84) he lives a hand-to-mouth Spartan existence and yet they are the most charming couple. This is their love story: their love for each other, their love of country, and the love of many of their compatriots for them.
Location: Mayfair Theater, 1074 Bank Street
Date: December 16, 2024
Time: 6pm doors open, screening starts 6:30pm
Tickets are $15 and can be bought here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/my-friend-the-terrorist-a-tale-of-love-and-revolution

Harmony Circles for Palestine with Albert Dumont
2024-12-16 18:30 - 20:00 | Online
Join us for a conversation with Shaheen from Labour 4 Palestine Ottawa.
Among other things, we will talk about the City of Ottawa’s motion to introduce a ‘bubble bylaw’, which follows a worrying trend in Ottawa of curbing public dissent.
From L4P’s online petition:
“The right to protest is a cornerstone of democratic society and we must protect this right especially in the face of escalating attempts to silence particular communities while protecting others.”
You can find this petition in their links on Instagram here – https://www.instagram.com/labour4palestineott/
To get more info on this Harmony Circle and to register, visit our Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2039400863148334/

Solstice Cabaret - Just Voices and Friends
2024-12-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Social Innovation Atelier, 95 Clegg St, Ottawa
Join Just Voices Choir and musical friends – including Joel Harden, Chris White and Christophe – for a festive evening of song and solstice cheer!
Free entry – Snacks – Cash bar
Share with friends and please register via Eventbrite to reserve your spot.

Sick from Genocide - Ottawa Protest
2025-01-06 17:30 - 19:30 | Human Rights Monument, 220 Elgin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Join us on Monday, January 6, at 5:30PM to answer the global call from doctors and healthcare workers who are sick of genocide and the continued targeting of healthcare workers and institutions in Gaza.

We have watched in horror as “israel” laid siege to Kamal Adwan Hospital, leaving it nonfunctional. One week ago, the lOF stormed the hospital, forcibly removing all patients – even those on life support-and setting the facilities afire. Patients had to walk with their medical equipment to the Indonesian Hospital as this was the last operational hospital in the North of Gaza. Hospital director, Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, and the remaining Kamal Adwan Hospital staff have vanished into the sinister shadows of the zionist prisons. Now, the occupation is ready to do the same to Al Awda Hospital in Nuseirat refugee camp.

Evacuation orders have been issued and airstrikes are imminent.

The IOF has repeatedly targeted hospitals in the past 15 months, beginning with the bombing of Al Ahli Hospital. Against all odds and with almost no resources, doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers have kept rebuilding the infrastructure needed to give Palestinians in Gaza at least some of the treatment they need. But it is clear that “israel” will not stop until they have completely crippled the healthcare system. We will not let these crimes go unpunished or unseen.

Queer Death Salon - Remembering Our Dead
2025-01-14 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Queer Death Salon is a community space for all 2SLGBTQIA+ people to come together to discuss death, dying and grief. It is a facilitated drop-in discussion space, with the purpose of building connection, skill, and resources for 2SLGBTQIA+ people navigating end of life in our personal lives and in our communities.
Tuesday, January 14 at 7 p.m. EST
Remembering Our Dead
Participants will be led through an optional creative exercise with the intent to explore grief, (dis)connection to the deceased, and will have the opportunity to share about their people who have died and the impact it has had on them.
Please bring art supplies if you have them available to you. This can be paper, paint, crayons, markers, collage supplies, textile arts etc.
We are not holding ourselves to a false idea of perfection, this will be an exercise in expression and all skill levels and abilities are welcome.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own questions, stories, and complexities to share.

Gaza Remains: The Story
2025-01-15 08:30 - 2025-02-07 16:30 | The Wing (4th Foor Nideyinan – former University Centre), Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, K1S5B6
This exhibition by the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, State of Palestine invites you to journey through the history, culture, and resilience of Gaza. In the face of an unrelenting genocide and years of struggle and hardship against Israeli apartheid, the exhibition celebrates the enduring spirit of Gaza’s people.
Organized by:
Independent Jewish Voices Carleton
Students for Justice in Palestine Carleton
Carleton University Human Rights Society
Local Sponsors:
Carleton Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Carleton Feminist Institute for Social Transformation
Carleton Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies
Joint Chair in Women’s Studies as Carleton and UOttawa
Dr. Seyda Ipek, Carleton University
Gongfu Bao
Ottawa Run for Palestine

Science Fiction and How We Imagine Climate Futures
2025-01-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Online
This event is online: Register here for the link
Often science fiction depicts the climate future as unlivable, or as barely survivable only through an intensification of “capitalist realism” – everything is for sale, only the rich have access to technologies sufficient for minimal comfort, and Earth ecologies are in continual free-fall or already destroyed in service of profit. In this conversation, we discuss science fictional imaginings of livable collective futures. We put two recent texts (Ruthanna Emrys’s A Half-Built Garden and M.E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhabi’s Everything for Everyone) in conversation with an older non-dystopian imaginary (“P.M”’s bolo’bolo).
Alexis Shotwell is theory and science fiction fan, functional potter, and she bike rides in all weather. Alexis has been part of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton since 2012 and cross-appointed to Philosophy and the Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies. Kilian Jörg is a philosopher and artist based in Vienna and Berlin whose research focuses on ecological epistemology and the intersection of art and philosophy.

Tenant Organizing Workshop
2025-01-18 14:30 | Ontario
The workshop will be hosted on January 18, 2025 @2:30pm in Centretown. The location will be sent to those who register!

This event will provide a basic introduction to tenant organizing, including an explanation of what a tenant union is, the concrete steps that tenants can take to form one, and some lessons learned from other tenant struggles. We will also go over some examples of tenant organizing from the past few years, and conclude with a workshop talking about immediate next steps to support tenants organizing in their buildings. Our goal is not just to analyze the problem, but to help people take action

Meet and Greet and Meet the Author Watch Party - Hot Mess
2025-01-18 15:00 - 17:00 | Social Innovation Atelier, 95 Clegg St, Ottawa
Join For our Kids Ottawa/Gatineau parents on Saturday January 18 for a casual meet and greet at 3 pm and stay to watch the online conversation and Q&A with author Sarah Marie Wiebe at 4 pm
We will gather in the Desjardins Room at St Paul’s University, at 95 Clegg St, starting at 3pm. We’ll spend some time mingling before joining the online event from 4pm-5:15pm. The room is wheelchair accessible and has bathrooms. We’ll provide snacks.
As part of Veganuary, we also encourage you to bring your favourite vegan (or vegetarian) recipes to share (particularly ones that are kid-friendly)
Hot Mess is the story of mothering amidst a climate crisis to shape futures that will flourish under the politics of care. Blending vulnerability with analysis, Wiebe discusses how community and care are essential for us to address the climate crisis and to thrive in our changing world. Each chapter is its own vignette – feel free to join if you’ve read only part of the book, or if you’re interested in exploring these themes.
If you have capacity to help with running this event, please contact sara.parkes@gmail.com. We appreciate your support.
About the author:
Dr. Sarah Marie Wiebe (she/her) grew up on unceded Coast Salish territory in British Columbia, BC, is the mother of a three-year old and an author of the recently published Hot Mess: Mothering through a Code Red Climate Emergency. She is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Victoria and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Hawai’i, Mānoa as well as a Co-Founder of the FERN Collaborative. Her research focuses on community development and environmental sustainability. At the intersections of environmental justice and public engagement, her teaching and research interests emphasize political ecology, policy justice and deliberative dialogue. As a collaborative researcher and filmmaker, she worked with Indigenous communities on sustainability-themed films including To Fish as Formerly. She collaborated with artists from Attawapiskat on a project entitled Reimgining Attawapiskat which is a companion website to her recent book Life against States of Emergency: Revitalizing Treaty Relations from Attawapiskat. Dr. Wiebe is also the author of Everyday Exposure: Indigenous Mobilization and Environmental Justice in Canada’s Chemical Valley (2016). For more about Dr. Wiebe’s research see: https://www.sarahmariewiebe.com/.

Ottawa South Community Mending Circle - January
2025-01-19 13:00 - 16:00 | Social Innovation Atelier, 95 Clegg St, Ottawa
Come learn from our volunteer Mending Mentors, who will show you how to repair or hem your favorite garments, give advice on simple sewing projects, and help with sewing machines. All skill levels are welcome.
What to bring:
Item to work on such as a garment, cushion, curtain, blanket – see below for details on the types of projects with which we can assist you.
(Optionally) Sewing supplies such as needles, thread, or cloth for patching. If you do not have your own supplies, you can use ours!
(Optionally) Your sewing machine. If you do not have a sewing machine, you can learn hand mending or use one of our machines.
A willingness to learn.
What we offer: We can coach you on making simple repairs (e.g. seams, small tears, buttons, darning of socks, opened seams, patching), visible mending, repair of knitted or crocheted garments, hemming, and answer basic questions about using sewing machines. If you have something to patch, please either bring some cloth for the patch or contact us in advance with the colour and material type required.
While we are here to help, some projects may be outside our abilities. In particular, we are not able to help with leather or zippers, significant clothing alterations/big sewing projects/clothing re-designs or broken sewing machines. If you are unsure, please contact us via FB message or on our webiste (www.osean.org) with the details in advance (pictures encouraged!).

Book Launch: Reading the Room: Lessons on Pedagogy and Curriculum from the Gender and Sexuality Studies Classroom (Concordia University Press, 2024), edited by Natalie Kouri-Towe
2025-01-21 18:30 | FSS Building, Room 4004, University of Ottawa, 120 University Prvt., Ottawa, K1N 9A7
Registration Link: https://carleton.ca/fist/cu-events/reading-the-room/
Join us Tuesday, January 21, 2025 at 6:30pm, for the official launch of Reading the Room: Lessons on Pedagogy and Curriculum from the Gender and Sexuality Studies Classroom (Concordia University Press, 2024), edited by Natalie Kouri-Towe. This groundbreaking collection brings together first-hand experiences from gender and sexuality studies classrooms, offering profound insights into the transformative power of pedagogy.
The event will be hosted at FSS 4004, 120 University Private, Ottawa, ON K1N 9A7 and will feature conversations with contributors and a panel discussion that delves into the book’s key themes: navigating power dynamics in the classroom, addressing debates around “trigger warnings” and “cancel culture,” and creating equitable and inclusive learning environments. Panelists include: Natalie Kouri-Towe, Gulzar R. Charania, Kelly Fritsch, Dan Irving, and Megan Rivers-Moore.
This event is hosted by the Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies, University of Ottawa and the Feminist Institute for Social Transformation, Carleton University with support from the Joint Chair in Feminist and Gender Studies at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University.
Registration Link: https://carleton.ca/fist/cu-events/reading-the-room/
Light snacks will be provided and copies of the book will be available for purchase!
Book Description:
First-hand experiences from gender and sexuality studies classrooms that add depth to a topic often distorted by the media.
The contemporary post-secondary classroom has become a flashpoint in public debate on gender and sexuality, giving rise to controversies over gender-inclusive policies, “trigger warnings,” and “cancel culture” that have been misrepresented by opportunistic and divisive voices within and outside of the education sector. However, gender and sexuality studies scholars have long engaged in these debates over pedagogy, and closer study of gender and sexuality classroom practices reveals constructive and transformative ways of learning that grapple with power, conflict, discomfort, and safety in the classroom.
Reading the Room collects candid discussions on classroom experiences from instructors and students throughout Canada to provide guidance to educators on often-fraught issues relating to gender, sexuality, race, class, disability, and decolonization. Working from a place of coalition building, this volume is a frank, insightful, and pragmatic invitation to share different pedagogical practices with educators in a range of academic disciplines.
Contributors to this volume discuss an array of topics including asymmetrical power relations between students and teachers, how students and professors learn from each other, how to negotiate conflict in a classroom, and how to be self-reflective about methods of teaching and learning. They also consider debates around trigger warnings and students’ expectations, discuss methods for curriculum selection and pedagogical practices, reflect on what it is like to embody a subject one teaches, and show how university equity, diversity, and inclusion work is often offloaded to overburdened racialized students and precariously employed staff.
A thoughtful and generous work, Reading the Room shows how teachers and students can navigate the difficulty and discomfort of contentious topics and learn more from each other.

Book launch: Burnt by Democracy
2025-01-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Irene’s Pub, 885 Bank St, Ottawa, ON
Join us for the launch of Burnt by Democracy: Youth, Inequality, and the Erosion of Civic Life, a powerful new book by Carleton University Sociology Professor Jacqueline Kennelly. The evening will feature a panel discussion with the author, leading scholars, and youth activists, alongside performances by young musicians.
Wednesday, January 22, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Irene’s Pub, 885 Bank Street, Ottawa
RSVP on Eventbrite
Against a vivid and often heart-breaking backdrop of stories from young people struggling to survive and thrive under conditions of ever-expanding state retrenchment and inequality, Burnt by Democracy makes a timely and impassioned plea for protecting and strengthening democracy by truly levelling the playing field for all.

Disability Justice and Queer Crip Curation
2025-01-23 16:00 - 18:00 | Dunton Tower, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, K1S 5B6
In partnership with the Department of History, Cultural Mediations, and the School for Studies in Art and Culture, join Kenny Fries for an evening discussing the intersections between queer and disability histories. We will explore depictions of “the perfect body” in queer communities, and how individuals who identify as both queer and disabled have been integrating these histories through art.
Location: 2017 Dunton Tower

Yes, it is a genocide
2025-01-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa, 404 McArthur Avenue, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Want to learn talking points from anti-Zionist Jews on how to counteract Zionist gaslighting ?
Well, some Palestinian solidarity allies organized an information session on Thursday, January 23rd, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa at 404 McArthur Avenue! The event is free of charge.
The presentation will consist of video footage of prominent anti-Zionist Jews like Norman Finkelstein, Ilan Pappé, Gabor Maté, Naomi Klein, Miko Peled and many others calling out the actions of the Zionist entity for what it is: a genocide.
Guest speakers will be former MP for Gatineau, Richard Nadeau, who also participated in a parliamentary mission to Gaza and the West Bank in 2009, as well as Nir Hagigi, president of the Carleton University chapter of Independent Jewish Voices.
So please attend the event to learn – and unlearn – from anti-Zionist Jews of conscience.

Labour for Palestine - Ottawa Chapter Meeting
2025-01-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Ontario
If you are a unionized worker, part of a union, and want to see the labour movement take action in solidarity with Palestine, please join us at our next in-person chapter meeting. Help us strategize for the next year to make it clear that Palestine is a labour issue and our solidarity must be global.
We will share the location by email. Sign up here.

Attend Court in Person and On-Line for Final Submissions in Abousfian Abdelrazik's Torture Lawsuit
2025-01-29 09:30 - 2025-01-31 16:30 | Downtown Ottawa
Join us in court January 28-30 in Ottawa or online as closing submissions are presented in the lawsuit over Canada’s complicity in the overseas detention, torture and exile of Canadian citizen Abousfian Abdelrazik.

To register online to observe proceedings, visit: https://cas-satj.zoom.us/…/WN_fSbwmniiRZ2f7_T7xFLkGg

To receive court location details for Ottawa, contact tasc@web.ca

Abousfian Abdelrazik is “the victim of a series of gross injustices attributable directly or indirectly to Canadian state actors, including arbitrary and illegal detention, prolonged solitary confinement, torture, and forced exile and separation from his home and young children. These breaches of the Plaintiff’s fundamental human rights were flagrant, extreme and continuous over a period of six years. Most egregiously, many senior Canadian officials were fully aware that Canada could have ended the Plaintiff’s cruel and unjust ordeal at any moment by simply securing a flight home to Montreal. In this action, he seeks redress and compensation that vindicates his Charter rights and is proportionate to the unprecedented seriousness of this wrongful state conduct.” (from his lawsuit)

Canada has a loathsome history of rendering Muslim citizens to torture abroad and being complicit in their torture. The case of Abousfian Abdlerazik is the first time such a case is scheduled for a trial.
When a combination of civic action and a court action successfully brought him home in 2009, Abdelrazik told the Globe and Mail a “ chilling account of six years of imprisonment and forced exile abroad… Mr. Abdelrazik recounted stories of interrogation and alleged torture. He told of Canadian Security and Intelligence Service agents laughingly saying “Sudan will be your Guantanamo” when he begged to be allowed to return home.

His ordeal – described as Kafkaesque by the federal court judge who ordered him repatriated – is far from ended. But the Harper government made it clear that Mr. Abdelrazik couldn’t expect any support in his efforts to remove his name from the UN list.
Mr. Abdelrazik said one of the two CSIS interrogators was the same agent who questioned him at his home two days before he flew to Khartoum in March of 2003. Mr. Abdelrazik said he had called the Montreal police to get the CSIS agents to leave.

“One of them, he turned and said to me, ‘You will see…’ ” he said.

Although CSIS denies it arranged for Mr. Abdelrazik to be imprisoned in Sudan, heavily redacted government documents say he was arrested “at our request,” meaning Canada’s.
After months in solitary with little food and occasional torture, Mr. Abdelrazik said one day his Sudanese jailers told him the “Canadian muhabarat want to talk to me,” using the feared Arabic term for secret police.
Mr. Abdelrazik says he was taken to a room with a table laden “with cakes and fruits and juice and bottles of water,” but before he could say anything, one of the CSIS agents said, “Remember I told you in Montreal that ‘You will see,’ … and now, you will see.”

Mr. Abdelrazik said he begged to be allowed to go home and offered to face any charges the agents wanted to press.
“I am not going to help a terrorist,” the CSIS agent replied, according to Mr. Abdelrazik. The agent added that Mr. Abdelrazik was “Sudanese, not a Canadian, and should stay in Sudan forever.”
“My country doesn’t need you,” the CSIS agent said. After the two left, Mr. Abdelrazik said the worst period of torture and abuse began.

Stay in touch at Stop Canadian Involvement in Torture, tasc@web.ca
