Lots of good opportunities to have your say

People are speaking their minds over the next few weeks, about more than a few important issues, and at more than a few times and places.  Here’s a look at some events happening in May.

 

Saturday May 25:

 

March Against Monsanto is an international event.  In some places, including here in Barrie, it’s called Rally Against Monsanto, and it’s happening in the courtyard at City Hall, 70 Collier Street, at 2:p.m.  If it rains it will be held in the Rotunda.

Rallies against Monsanto are taking place in towns and cities at 2 p.m. everywhere in the EST time zone.

The purpose of the rally is to send Monsanto a clear message:  We are not happy with genetically modified foods, but even more so, we are not at all happy with the control Monsanto holds over production of our food.  To quote the RAM movement’s website: “Whether you like it or not, chances are Monsanto contaminated the food you ate today with chemicals and unlabeled GMOs. Monsanto controls much of the world’s food supply at the expense of food democracy worldwide.”

If this is your hot issue, check the website for more information:  www.occupy-monsanto.com.  There is a complete list there, many pages long, of every municipality holding a Rally Against Monsanto on May 25.  Then come down to Barrie City Hall at 2 p.m. and raise your voice.

 

Springwater Park

Just to remind everyone that there is a pot-luck supper every Saturday at Camp Nibi (“fresh water” in Anishinabek) in Springwater Park.

This one’s for you, if you prefer a get-together with a few people who care about nature, the earth, and our provincial parks.  If you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, Google Springwater Park to get the full story of how the Ontario Government closed this park, shut down the animal rescue centre, took away the picnic tables, barbecues and toilets, and put up a barrier so that you can go in there only on foot.  Which is fine, except when someone might need an ambulance.

Two brave women from the Anishinabe First Nation are camping in the park to reclaim treaty rights over non-operational Crown land.  To show your support, take a tasty dish to the pot-luck and enjoy a summer evening with old friends, or make some new ones.

If you haven’t already, sign on to www.springwaterparkcitizenscoalition.wordpress.com to read Les Stewart’s informative and always interesting blog.  Thanks Les.

 

Sunday, May 26:

 

Looking for something meaningful and interesting to do on Sunday?

Water Is Life is an afternoon of film, discussion and food, in the Angus Ross room at Barrie Public Library, on Sunday May 26, 1 – 4 p.m.  The discussion focuses on access to safe, drinkable water and adequate sanitation, which in 2010 the UN declared to be basic human rights.  Canada was one of only three UN member states that did not acknowledge the right to water in a UN declaration or resolution.  Finally, in 2012 our government is recognizing this human right.

Groups participating in this event include the local chapters of Council of Canadians, Amnesty International, and Kairos.

 

Wednesday May 29:

 

Barrie and District Raging Grannies are joining two other Raging Grannies gaggles, Toronto and Peterborough, in a protest against plans to refurbish one of the closed nuclear reactors at Pickering.

Kate Chung of the Toronto Grannies is one of the people making a presentation at the public hearings on May 29 and 30.  Her presentation is on Wednesday morning, and one of the Peterborough Grannies will also present later the same day.

On the Wednesday, starting around 11 a.m., inside the hearings, and outside, and wherever we find ourselves, Raging Grannies in all their finery and in full voice will get our message across loud and clear.  Here’s a sample, to the tune If you’re happy and you know it:

“Bring us solar, bring us hydro, bring us wind,

Bring us energy from sources that won’t end.

Before we could trust uranium,

We’d need holes in our cranium,

We haven’t yet gone that far around the bend.”

 

Come back after the protest for our report, with pics.

 

Also on May 29:

 

Back on the topic of chemicals that are bad for us, have you ever wondered what’s in those products we slather all over ourselves with nary a thought?  On May 29, 7 – 9 p.m., speaker Joanna Keats will tell us about her personal quest to discover and avoid the chemicals hidden in personal care products.  She will then explain how we can make informed and healthy choices about what what we put on our bodies.

Where?  89 Dunlop East, behind Casa Cappucino and the English Tea Room.  Go to the back of the building abutting on Fred Grant Square. Park at the back, or at the Fred Grant parking meters.

This free event is organized by Transition Barrie.  See www.transitionbarrie.org/may-29th-7pm-what-are-you-putting-on-your-body/ or contact Karen Fox at 705-721-6867 or move@sympatico.ca.

 

Come back to this page in a week or so to see what the BAD Grannies have to tell you about events in June.

Enjoy the summer.  Have fun, laugh, sing, play.