[It's only a few days since the last update, but there are several important additions to the list, including a couple of events that are happening tomorrow (Sunday). Check them out and enjoy! -- SN]

EVENTS & MEETINGS:

1) Sunday, September 16: Cannabis as a Medicine From a Patients Perspective
2) Sunday, September 16: Eat Local Sudbury Tour of McGrows Farms
3) Sunday, September 16: Queer-Themed Film Screening - "Margarita" at Cinefest
4) Tuesday, September 18: Meeting of Justice and Freedom for John Moore
5) Tuesday, September 18: Organizing Meeting for "Raise the Rates" Town Hall
6) Wednesday, September 19: Weekly "Casseroles" Education Protest -- THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
7) Friday, September 21 and Saturday, September 22: Quebec a Sudbury: 7) CLASSE Speaks About the Quebec Student Strike
8) Thursday, September 27: Take Back the Night
9) Monday, October 1: Fall Planning Meeting of the Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury
10) Thursday, October 4: "Sisters in Spirit" Vigil for Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women
11) Wednesday, October 10: NISA at the STC: A Play in Honour of Mental
Illness Awareness Week
12) Wednesday, October 10: "Raise the Rates" Town Hall

NEWS, ANALYSIS, & CALLS TO ACTION:

1) Provincial Telephone Town Hall on Modernizing Child Care

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Sunday, September 16: Cannabis as a Medicine From a Patients Perspective

Time: 12 noon until 2pm
Location: Student Lounge, 2nd floor of the Parker Building, Laurentian University, Sudbury

A national panel of cannabis patients with over 200 years of combined cannabis use has gathered to share their experiences of cannabis use.

Panel consists of

Neil Magnuson of the Freedom Tour 2012 who is town from Vancouver who is doing a cross country tour of awareness on the failure of the War on Drugs. Neil who has been working in Vancouver's notorious downtown Eastside for several decades will share his experiences of his experiences on his national tour. This is his last stop on Sudbury and is off to Ottawa for the big event on Monday. We are very fortunate to have Neil with us.

Jamy McKenzie was involved in a recent altercation with the Sudbury Greater Police. Jamy just survived a liver transplant and has numerour health challenges and has been a tireless local cannabis activist who has garned a national reputation. He also happens to the youngster on the panel.

Sussanne Jean is in from Sault Ste Marie to join our panel. Sussanne is a grandmother and has 44 years of cannabis use under her belt and has been using cannabis for pain managment.

James Joey Gough a local patient who was able to leave the methadone maintence programme successly and now uses cannabis exclusively and has been able to turn his live around 360 degrees. A truly inspiring life story.

David DuBois who has used cannabis for over 40 years. Survived three near death experiences during his 25 years of being HIV positve. A licensed producer of cannabis.

other participants may be available this is a work in progress

Location is the student lounge on the second floor of the Parker building, just above the great hall

This event on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/events/115000695316185/

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Sunday, September 16: Eat Local Sudbury Tour of McGrows Farms

Time: 12 noon until 4pm
Location: McGrows Farms & Garden, 360 Goodwill Road, Garson

McGrows is a certified organic farm within the city limits. This small
farm, with 5 acres, is yielding good quantities of fresh organic
product. Stuart McCall will be sharing his farming secrets to all
interested people.

The farm is located at 360 Goodwill Road, in Garson.

Eat Local Sudbury Co-operative is a grocery store and distributor that
connects eaters with producers. Our store primarily sells produce from
farms within a 150 miles radius of Sudbury, secondly from the rest of
Ontario. The Co-op serves as a hub for consumers and producers. To learn
more, go to http://www.eatlocalsudbury.com

This event on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/events/350625708358272/

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Sunday, September 16: Queer-Themed Film Screening - "Margarita" at Cinefest

Time: 2pm
Location: Silver City Sudbury, 355 Barrydowne Road

From the makers of FINN'S Girl, MY FEMINISM, THANK GOD I'M A LESBIAN..... comes the fresh feature "Margarita"- playing this coming Sunday at Cinefest International Film Festival in Sudbury. This film by the legendary duo Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert won Best Feature from Toronto's Inside Out this spring as well as Best Feature from France's International Women's Film Festival. Producer and Director will be present at the Sudbury ONE TIME ONLY screening this weekend. Lets show them a warm welcome and a great screening AFTER PARTY!!

Cinefest (http://www.cinefest.com) tickets are available for order over the phone (705-688-1234), at the Cinefest Offices at 40 Larch Street, or at the Cinefest box office at SilverCity as of September 16.

This event on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/events/467293246637337/

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Tuesday, September 18: Meeting of Justice and Freedom for John Moore

Time: 6:30pm
Location: Little Montreal, 182 Elgin St., Sudbury  

This will be the first formal meeting after our summer break, and the
main focus will be to decide on a general plan for proceeding over the
coming year. Please bring your ideas!

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Tuesday, September 18: Organizing Meeting for "Raise the Rates" Town Hall

Time: 7:30pm
Location: Sudbury and District Labour Council Office, the second floor of 109 Elm Street (across the street from the Native Friendship Centre)

This is the second organizing meeting for the Sudbury "Raise the Rates" Town Hall. The Raise the Rates campaign is a campaign sponsored by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (http://www.ocap.ca) and CUPE Ontario that stands for major increases in social assistance rates and increases in the minimum wage. This fall Raise the Rates Town Hall meetings are being organized across the province to build support for this campaign. One area of focus will be on the cut to the Comnmunity Start Up Fund for people on social assistance. The Town Hall in Sudbury will be held on October 10.

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THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED...THE WEEKLY STUDENT PROTEST WILL RESUME NEXT WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, September 19: Weekly "Casseroles" Education Protest

Time: 8pm
Location: Sudbury Arena, 240 Elgin Street

Inspired by the student movement in Quebec, students and supporters in
Sudbury are doing a weekly "casseroles" protest in the downtown in
support of financially accessible education, and also for accountability
and democracy and equality in society more broadly.

Bring your voice, your friends, and some pots and pans to make some
noise!

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Friday, September 21 and Saturday, September 22: Quebec a Sudbury: CLASSE Speaks About the Quebec Student Strike

(This item combines several events -- read on for times and locations!)

Bringing the wisdom and stories right from Montréal, the heart of the
Quebéc student struggle is a member of the student coalition CLASSE
(Coalition Large de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale
Étudiante). Daily they fight for the rights of students in their
province, fighting foremost for a stop to a hike in tuition fees, but
also for accountability in democracy and equality in society. What with
their recent victory in the defeat of Quebec’s Liberal party, putting a
stop to the fee hike and the protest-limiting law 12, they continue
their fight for a larger, truly democratic cause. It is the wisdom of
this fight they bring to us in Ontario. Join us as both student and
community member to learn and fight for public education without
financial barriers, and a better world.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st
LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT CENTRE – 2:00 PM

CLASSE will be joined by students and faculty from Laurentian University
to discuss the student struggle, why we should care outside of Quebec,
and what we can do to affect change.
Open, positive-space discussion is strongly encouraged throughout the
afternoon and beyond.
Speakers list to come very soon.
Refreshments will be provided.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd
THE LAUGHING BUDDHA – 6:00 PM

Joining members of the Greater Sudbury community, CLASSE will again be
on hand join in discussion on the struggle from a broader perspective,
and how change may be affected beyond education.
The mic will be open for anyone who wishes to share their stories.
As always, open and positive-space discussion is strongly encouraged.

NIGHT DEMONSTRATION – 8:30 PM

After the discussion, we take the streets.
Pots, pans, banners, flags, and friends powerfully encouraged.

THE AFTERPARTY – THE TOWNEHOUSE TAVERN
Wear your red square and get in for half price.
Details on the entertainment here: http://www.thetownehouse.com/
Dance.
Don’t drink and drive.
19+ w/ ID

This event on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/429886660394794/

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Thursday, September 27: Take Back the Night

Time: open to see displays -- 5:30pm
      rally -- 6pm
      march -- 7pm
Location: NOAH, 450 Morin Avenue, Sudbury  (same building as better
beginnings/better futures, parking available, take King Street going
west off of Notre Dame)

Community organizations of relevance to violence prevention and sexual
assault will have displays, Clothesline Project t-shirt painting open to
public at 5:30pm, rally 6pm, march 7pm

People of all ages and genders are welcome at this annual action against
gender violence and sexual assault! Bring noise makers and bring your
voices!

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Monday, October 1: Fall Planning Meeting of the Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury

Time: potluck at 6pm, meeting 7pm to 9pm
Location: Environmental Resource Centre (176 Larch Street, back
entrance)

This will be our fall planning meeting. Help set the agenda for the year
to make a difference in our community. The meeting will run 7 – 9 p.m.,
with a pre-meeting potluck at 6 p.m.. We hope you can make it out to
catch up with new and old friends!

The Caolition for a Liveable Sudbury (http://www.liveablesudbury.org) is
a grassroots network of citizen groups and individuals who share a
vision of Sudbury as a green, healthy and engaged community. Our work
includes research, education, advocacy, and action.  We also act as a
network connecting like-minded community groups and individual citizens
to share information and work together.

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Thursday, October 4: "Sisters in Spirit" Vigil for Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women

Time: 9:55am
Location: Begins at N'Swakamok Native Friendship Centre

On October 4th there will be a “Sisters in Spirit” Vigil to honour the more than 582 missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in this country. This event is open to the public. There will be a march to city hall and a flag raising as well as drumming to restore the memory of them. The hope is to educate and ensure effective access to justice for families of missing Aboriginal women through awareness of police training and resources to deal with reports of all missing aboriginal women without discrimination.
 
Tentative Agenda:
Opening Prayers by Elder at 9:55 am at the N’Swakamok Native Friendship Center
March from Friendship Centre on ELM – ELGIN – MINTO to city hall 10:00am
Flag Raising/ drumming till 11:30
Luncheon @ FC – taco sale. Noon

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Wednesday, October 10: NISA at the STC: A Play in Honour of Mental
Illness Awareness Week

Time: 7:30pm
Location: 170 Shaughnessy Street, Sudbury

In honour of Mental Illness Awareness Week, Northern Initiative for
Social Action is pleased to present “Henry and Alice: Into the Wild”,
the sequel to the very successful comedy, “Sexy Laundry”.

Join us for a night of comedy on Wednesday, October 10th at 7:30pm at
the Sudbury Theatre Centre.

Featuring art from NISA’s Artists' Loft (show runs from September 7th to
October 17th), with a short intermission and locally catered desserts.

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased by going to nisa.on.ca.

Thank you for supporting NISA and mental health awareness. For more
information, please call 705-222-5375 and ask for Alex.

This event on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/events/434992269884647/

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Wednesday, October 10: "Raise the Rates" Town Hall

Time: Free food & refreshments at 6pm, the Town Hall at 6:30pm
Location: Jubilee Centre, 195 Applegrove Street, Sudbury

Join the discussion at the Sudbury Anti-Poverty Town Hall Meeting

Fight the cut to Community Start-Up!
Raise OW/ODSP Rates Now!
Raise Minimum Wage Rates Now!

Since the Mike Harris cuts of the 1990’s people on Ontario Works and ODSP have seen the spending power on their cheques fall by close to 60%. This year’s Provincial Budget continued the rapid decline with rates that don’t even keep up with inflation. Following the previous gutting of the vital Special Diet benefit, this year’s Budget also brought a series of cutbacks for people on social assistance including the elimination of a benefit known as ‘Community Start-Up’. This vital benefit is planned to be cut in January 2013.

The Liberal government froze the minimum wage in 2011. Workers trying to survive on a minimum wage are already making poverty wages and are seeing their incomes fall even further as a result of inflation and this freeze. Currently close to 1 in 6 workers in Ontario are working at or close to the minimum wage rate.

We are fighting this cut and demanding raises in social assistance and minimum wage rates to where people can live with health and dignity. Join us to talk about ways we can fight back together.

Contact: Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty // sudburyCAP@gmail.com // 249-878-7227

Speakers include: John Clarke of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Carrie Lynn Poole from CUPE-Ontario and Elizabeth Richer from Mamaweswen, The North Shore Tribal Council.

Sponsors: The Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty, The Sudbury and District Labour Council, the Sudbury CUPE Council, Mamaweswen, The North Shore Tribal Council, The Research Centre in Social Justice and Policy and the Poverty, Homelessness and Migration Research Project at Laurentian University, The Sudbury Worker’s Education and Advocacy Centre

These Town Hall Meetings are organized across the province by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and CUPE-Ontario.

NEWS, ANALYSIS, & CALLS TO ACTION:

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Provincial Telephone Town Hall on Modernizing Child Care

You're Invited
Free Telephone Town Hall:
Modernizing child care - doing it right
The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care is hosting a free telephone town hall to discuss upcoming changes to Ontario’s early learning and child care sector.

When: Tuesday September 18th 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Where: By phone - All across Ontario!
How: Visit www.childcareontario.org to register
 
All are welcome!
Child care workers and ECEs, parents, faculty, students and allies.
 

The future of Ontario’s child care sector impacts us all:
help shape it by participating this call!

To download a flyer for the event - go here: http://childcareontario.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1b6a7a352737a...)

Please feel free to forward this information throughout your networks.
You can find more information about the call as well as resources on child care modernization here: http://childcareontario.us1.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=1b6a7a352737a...

Note: The call is free but you must register in advance to be placed on the call!

Ontario Child Care News - Are you Getting it?
The Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care is Ontario's advocacy organization for child care policy and funding. We send out a free newsletter 4 times a year with updates on child care policy and funding; Ministry announcements; child care campaigns; and events such as Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day - which we have been sponsoring for 12 years.

We sent our newsletter yesterday - if you didn't get it, you aren't on the list!
Go here (http://childcareontario.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1b6a7a352737a3...)  to subscribe to our list.

Contents of our most recent newsletter:
In this edition:

BREAKING: From OCBCC Council to Queen’s Park – Catherine Fife elected MPP for Kitchener-Waterloo!
     1. Child Care Modernization
     2.        - Response to Ministry of Education discussion paper
               - Action kit to help you make a difference
               - Free Telephone town hall – Tuesday September 18th 7:00-8:30pm
        Child Care Funding Update
     3. Question to the Minister on child care stabilization funding in the Ontario Legislature
     4. Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day
     5. Profile of a community in crisis – Windsor
     6. What’s at stake with the Ontario government emergency legislation for teachers?  
     7. Join the movement: become a member of the Coalition  
     8. SALE on the Child Care Management guide (English and French) until December 1st