Want to learn more about civil liberties issues in Canada and make your opinion known? Join in the conversation!! These are informal gatherings, where speakers are asked to share their views and engage in a discussion about current topics in civil liberties. Upcoming Conversations are listed below – we would love to have you join us, and whenever possible we will post videos of the events so everyone can listen in.
Not in Toronto? Have a topic you want to talk about? Host your own Conversation!! Send Dora an email – dchan@ccla.org - and let us know where you are and what you want to talk about. We’ll do our best to see if a CCLA staff person will be in your area, or if there are any other local speakers we can recommend.
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Bloggers behind bars: how an unconstitutional law is still putting people in jail
Monday February 11, 6:30-8:00 pm / Memorial Room, Trinity-St. Paul United Church, 427 Bloor St W, Toronto
Courts in at least five provinces have found that s. 301 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes defamatory speech, is unconstitutional. It is a provision that can be used to jail people who speak publicly and negatively about others – even if what they say is true. It is clearly an unjustifiable violation of freedom of expression. So why are people still being arrested, charged and imprisoned under this offence? Join us for a review of some recent cases where this section of the criminal code has been used, and a broader discussion of criminal libel and what role it plays in contemporary Canadian society. And then join us in the fight to have this crime taken off the books for good!
Speakers will include Jamie Cameron, Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and Abby Deshman, Program Director at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
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Celebrate our Freedom to Read!!
Friday March 1, 5:30 – 7:30 pm / Hart House Library, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto
Join Katherine Govier, Joy Kogawa, the University of Toronto’s writer in residence, and Toronto’s poet laureate George Elliott Clarke in a celebration of freedom of expression in Canada. We’ll have readings from the authors, a discussion of the state of freedom of expression in Canada moderated by author Marian Botsford Fraser, and an open mic session where people can pick up and read from their favourite banned book of choice. Many thanks to the Hart House Literary and Library Committee for co-hosting!! February 24 – March 2 is Freedom to Read week – you can check out a full listing of fantastic events taking place across Canada at www.freedomtoread.ca.
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‘That’s not fair’: Teaching democratic literacy in the classroom
Friday March, 22, 12:15- 1:45 pm / CSI Annex – Meeting Room 1, 720 Bathurst Street, Toronto
As soon as children begin to complain that things are unfair, they are ready to embark on the life-long journey of civic engagement. Come join April Julian and Danielle McLaughlin of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Education Trust in exploring ways to help young people think critically about rights and freedoms. Let’s make sure the next generation cares about social justice and develops the habits of democracy.
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Refugee Rights are Human Rights
April 4, 6 – 9 pm, / Beit Zatoun, 612 Markham St., Toronto
Join the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Toronto’s Roma Community Centre on April 4th, Canada’s Refugee Rights Day, for an evening of art, discussion and learning. We will have a panel discussion on refugee rights in Canada featuring Professor Sean Rehaag from York University’s Osgoode Hall, and Viktoria Mohacsi, a former Member of the European Parliament and the current coordinator of the Roma Community Centre’s Legal Clinic. The discussion will be followed by a slide show and the official gala opening of the Roma Rising Canada Art Exhibit, a community based education initiative to cultivate hope and build the capacity of Canada’s Roma community to fight racism and prejudice, while helping to break down the barriers of negative Gypsy stereotypes and misconceptions about Romani people.
For details – click here to download the event poster.
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And there’s more – we have a whole year of events we will be programming – so check back often, details about the rest will be posted shortly!!
