The national shame of aboriginal incarceration

The national shame of aboriginal incarceration

The Globe & Mail

July, 20, 2011

Highlights:

"Shawn Atleo, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, says first nations children are more likely to go to jail than to graduate from high school. Shocking indeed, but true. In its Throne Speech, the Harper government renewed its commitment to aboriginals. Yet, during the federal election campaign, there was hardly a mention by any party leader of the plight of first nations peoples and the destitute social and economic conditions in which they continue to live.

Federal correctional investigator Howard Sapers, in his 2009 report, says that the gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal offenders continues to grow and that the rate for aboriginal incarceration in 2008 was nine times the national average. This gap will widen and these numbers will increase with the Harper government's proposed crime bill. The ugly reality is that aboriginals will be especially hard hit by this legislation."

June 20th is World Refugee Day

Approximately 2500 immigrants arrive in London each year, and of those, about 27% are refugees. I've personally been privileged and profoundly moved by learning about the first hand lived experiences directly from some of London's newest citizens, most recently through the "Linking Cultures" program at Fanshawe College.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

The Central Library is hosting a few events to mark this occassion.  On Friday June 17th, from 6-9:30pm Life as a Refugee: Resilience Awards in the Stevenson & Hunt room.

We will be joined by Special Guests, including our esteemed keynoted speakers, lawyer Barbara Jackman who’s work in the 1985 Singh Decision ensured fundamental rights for refugee claimants in Canada and Dr. Ayman Al-Yassini currently the Executive Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.

Help us recognize London’s finest, with the presentation of the 1st Annual Resilience Awards, honouring London’s Refugees and Refugee Allies who have continually dedicated themselves to making London a welcoming home to all.

Please Join Us!
Light Refreshments available.
Child-minding is available, upon request. To request child-minding services, please email us directly at least 3 days before the event.
Event is Free to the Public.

And then on  Saturday June 18^th from 10:00am to 2:00pm Life as a Refugee: Family Day

The partner agencies of the REAL initiative have organized a public event which promises fun for the whole family! In the morning, enjoy arts and cultural performances by local multicultural groups. After a break for a variety of tasty treats representing foods from around the world, join workshops to learn more about “Life as a Refugee” in London, Ontario with panelists from all walks of life.

Children and youth can enjoy games and crafts run by Youth Workers from local agencies and with the support and guidance of local refugee youth. Take the whole family through interactive displays which highlight the various challenges that refugees who resettle in London encounter when trying to start a new life in Canada.

This event is free to the public. More information about the performers, artists and panelists to follow.

Life as a Refugee: Family Day!

Various Rooms, London Public Library’s Central Branch

251 Dundas Street, London, Ontario

Email Us at info@realhub.ca

Settlement Services at Public Libraries

Starting in July, settlement services will be expanded to Stoney Creek, East London, Cherryhill, Pond Mills, and Westmount branches of the public library for the summer, staffed by SWIS (Settlement Workers in Schools) workers.

Year round, Library Settlement Workers are at 4 libraries in London and speak a variety of languages to help newcomers find information and help in London. Call each location to find out their hours.
You can get information about:

• careers, employment and volunteer opportunities such as ERC, Job Connect, WIL, Goodwill Career Centre, Pillar, Access Centre
• language learning and assessment such as ESL classes, LINC classes, conversation circles, TOEFL preparation, ESL book clubs
• library materials in many languages
• basic computer classes
• public library computers
• income tax clinics
• housing
• schools and education, including government programs and continuing education
• health care, incl. doctors, walk-in medical clinics and dentists
• legal issues, incl. lawyers, legal aid, Neighbourhood Legal Services
• immigration issues, incl. family sponsorships, reunification, applying for permanent residency

Beacock Branch 519-451-8140
Central Branch 519-661-4600
Jalna Branch 519-685-6465
Sherwood Branch 519-473-9965



London & Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership (LMIP) is a one-stop website to help newcomers move to our community, gett settled and start a new life.  The website highlight life in London and Middlesex County and links to programs and services for employment, education, housing, health care, childcare, recreation and culture, and key provincial and federal resources.

Networking for an Inclusive Community (NIC) is a group of representatives and volunteers from organizations who provide service to newcomers in London and Middlesex. NIC was started about 8 years ago and has over 140 organizations in its membership. NIC provides education and networking opportunities through half day and full day workshops.

The London and Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership (LMLIP) is a collaborative community initiative which is designed to strengthen the role of local and regional communities in serving and integrating immigrants.

Short-form census makes debut Monday
April 28, 2011

Toronto Star
By Bruce Campion-Smith

Briefly:

"It’s controversial, political divisive and could have a lasting effect on how Canadians see their country. And it’s not Monday’s election. It’s the census and missing this year are the detailed long-form questionnaires that have helped many corners of Canadian society plan for the future. Yet many experts warn that the loss of the mandatory long-form census — and its questions on education, employment and commuting habits — risks leaving Canadians in the dark about their changing lifestyles and trends.

“That’s my firm belief,” said Ivan Fellegi, who served as chief statistician at Statistics Canada for 23 years. “But more important than that, we will not only have less knowledge about ourselves, we will have the wrong knowledge about ourselves because we won’t know what’s right and what’s wrong."

Fast Facts: Literacy, Women and Poverty

Fast Facts: Literacy, Women and Poverty

 Here's a highlight:

"A deeper analysis reveals that many of the women living with lower levels of literacy and low incomes are also single parents. If 42.5% of Manitoba’s social assistance recipients are single parents, and 80% of single parents are single mothers, then it can reasonably be assumed that single mothers would constitute an important target group for improving provincial literacy levels, both in the short term and in the long term. Not only might an important segment of Manitoba’s population be able to attend properly-designed literacy programming, but invaluable educational foundations would be laid for the next generation."

Public Legal Education Webinars

http://www.cleonet.ca/training/most_viewed_webinars

I'm amazed by the number and variety of webinars available for viewing at CLEO! There is something on this list for everyone:

• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Standards
• Bill 168 Harassment and Violence in the Workplace
• Cell Phone Contracts
• Child Custody and Protection
• Collection Agencies
• Consumer Reporting and Credit Reporting
• Criminal Injuries Compensation Board
• Door-to-Door Sales
• Elder Abuse
• Employment Rights
• Energy Re-billing
• Fired or Laid Off?
• Forced to Quit?
• Health Care Consent
• Health Care Consent and Advance Care Planning
• Human Rights in Your Workplace
• Identity Theft: An Overview
• Identity Theft: Assisting Victims
• Investment and Saving for ODSP Recipients
• Legal Aid Ontario
• Motor Vehicle Dealers Act
• Motor Vehicle Repairs
• ODSP Disability Determination and Application
• OW and ODSP Applications and Appeals
• OW and ODSP Rights and Benefits Overview
• Pay Day Loans Act
• Pre-Paid Services
• Private Career Colleges Act
• Reporting Peer to Peer Violence in Schools
• Residential Tenancies Act: The Basics
• Sexual Assault and Harassment
• Social Media
• Social Media for Clinics (Northern Regional Training)
• Substitute Decision Making ABCs
• Substitute Decision-Making Authorities and Powers of Attorney
• Workplace Safety and Insurance Board Basics

Danny Williams’ Post-Secondary Education Legacy

We KNOW that there is a direct relationship between education and poverty. To put it in terms that the political right might understand:   Poor kids don't get educated, and this keeps them in poverty, so their kids grow up poor, and poor kids don't get educated.  Equality in access to education is precisely where McGuinty should be pointing his Poverty Reduction compass.

UNESCO agrees:

"Two consistent research findings in the social sciences relate to the relationship between economic and education variables, and therefore between education and poverty. Educational research has consistently found home background (socioeconomic status) to be an important determinant of educational outcomes, and economic research has shown that education strongly affects earnings."

"Better educated people have a greater

probability of being employed,

are economically more productive,

and therefore earn higher incomes."

Link to the Danny Williams article

Some highlights:

"Admittedly, by the time Danny Williams was swept into office in 2003, the momentum had shifted. Newfoundland and Labrador had begun to lead the way in terms of post-secondary accessibility, in large part by going against the national trend of annual tuition fee increases.

But Williams, who won almost every seat in the provincial legislature that year, could have easily put things on auto pilot. He didn’t.

In 2007, the Williams government had both continued the tuition fee freeze and implemented an up-front, non-repayable, needs-based grant system for all post-secondary students. The same year, the interest rate on the provincial portion of all outstanding and future student loans was reduced from prime plus 2.5 per cent to prime.

In 2009, the Williams government went even further, eliminating the interest rate charges on the provincial portion of student loans. Also in 2009, the needs-based grant system became even more generous.

Since 2003, the Williams government has increased funding for post-secondary education in Newfoundland and Labrador by about 82 per cent."

....

"As McGuinty tries to differentiate himself from other party leaders, he’d be well advised to look at Danny Williams’ record on post-secondary education. If making a post-secondary education affordable worked on the Rock, it can work in other provinces too."