Latest news with #social justice
National Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- National Post
Jamie Sarkonak: The Law Commission of Canada's radical mission to decolonize justice
Article content To their credit, they don't beat people over the head with social justice. The commission's website is bland; its budget is small ($4 million per year — modest, in government measures); its top project at the moment has to do with charity law, a niche that most people don't think or care about. Think-tank-like, it runs student photo competitions to engage those entering the profession. Article content But within all that mundanity sits an opportunity more open to radical change: the commission's 'Beyond Tomorrow' project, which offers $20,000 to successful essay writers, is aimed at addressing concerns of stakeholders and 'embracing complicated conversations, addressing breakdown of trust, contributing to common endeavours, and fostering constructive change.' Article content It doesn't mean much until you examine those stakeholder concerns, which the commission compiles in an annual report. Included in these are radical notions of a decolonized legal system. Article content 'There is a need for this shift to take place at the pedagogical level in universities, particularly because students are at the heart of decolonization,' read one piece of input in favour of politicizing education even further. Most law schools already mandate Indigenous courses (which are often taught with a heavy anti-Canadian bias). But for some activists, that's simply not enough. Article content Article content Another favoured the 'recognition of Indigenous jurisdiction over environmental matters,' while other feedback spoke of a 'multi-juridical future' in Canada that could be assisted by adding Indigenous legal traditions into law school curriulcums. Canada, for context, is a bijural system that uses both English common law and French civil law; some activists insist that the notion of 'Indigenous law' — a heterogeneous mix of tribal traditions that are often interpreted through the lens of far-left academics — should make up a third pillar of Canadian law that governs the lives of citizens. The federal justice department supports making this so-called third order of law a reality. Article content We have every reason to believe these will resonate with the commission. Aside from its initial mandate, it published a bizarre navel-gazey essay about intersectionality — one concept at the heart of progressive thought — written in the fluffy, philosophically shallow style of a diversity consultant's website. For example: Article content 'Intersections may prompt us to think of Canada in the world and of worlds within Canada, or of the complicated and perhaps permeable boundaries between human and non-human, whether living or artificial. Solidly grounded in the complex reality of law, the framing notion of intersection mandates ambitious creativity in delineating the scope of meaningful law reform.' Article content
CTV News
19-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Workshop focuses on artistic expressions in research dissemination
Oghenevwede Oturuhoyi, a summer intern with the Black Equity in Alberta Rainforest project, is seen at a workshop on July 19, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton/Galen McDougall) African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) artists gathered at the University of Alberta Saturday morning for a professional development seminar hosted by the Ribbon Rouge Foundation and the Black Equity in Alberta Rainforest (BEAR) research project. Several speakers presented at the workshop, sharing their works and how the research influenced what they do. Oghenevwede Oturuhoyi, a summer intern with BEAR, said the workshop is important to the research project which looks at the root causes of ACB related health inequity. 'We're talking about knowledge translation – how do we translate our knowledge or data to reach the grassroots, to get to ACB communities, people who cannot access written information?' Oturuhoyi told CTV News Edmonton. 'We're really interested in how this knowledge can be transmitted and assessed.' Oturuhoyi said the workshop will give BEAR the opportunity to learn how to break down knowledge and disseminate the information through various artistic mediums. The first segment of the workshop involved presentations about BEAR's objectives and how they fit into those of Ribbon Rouge. The Ribbon Rouge Foundation is a grassroots organization focused on health equity and facilitates social justice through the arts. The second phase of the workshop took a more interactive approach with informal discussions about the subject matter. 'Today is all about learning, equipping and developing ourselves,' said Oturuhoyi. BEAR and the Ribbon Rouge Foundation are planning to hold a symposium in August, where they are looking to commission artists to translate some of the BEAR's findings into artistic expressions.
Mail & Guardian
19-07-2025
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Energy apartheid: Mining companies transition without justice
The term 'just transition' was originally used by the labour movement to refer to a transformative vision of infusing social justice into the transition to clean energy. Unfortunately, much like the phrases 'good governance' and 'social responsibility', it has come to be an aspiration the government and the private sector only profess commitment to. The Delving deeper, the study found that the explosion of household solar energy was only benefiting a white minority: the solar panel area per household was a staggering 73 times higher in white rather than in black areas. Despite the central role played by the mining sector in the dispossession, exploitation and discrimination of communities under colonialism and apartheid, mining houses such as As has been documented According to its Integrated Development Plan, the local Fetakgomo Tubatse municipality hosts an estimated 41 mining operations. Yet, the Recently Anglo American Platinum joined the increasing numbers of It does not have to be this way. Anglo American Platinum's successor, like all mining companies, is legally required to invest in the development of host communities under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act through social and labour plan (SLP) projects. An ever-growing pile of reports by the Valterra and other mining houses have an opportunity to develop SLP infrastructure and income generating projects of a suitable scale, ambition and rigour to rectify this. In this effort to reimagine the SLP, they could draw upon the ideas of local community organisations such as Sekhukhune Combined Mining Affected Communities (SCMAC). The SCMAC has, for several years, called on Anglo Platinum to equip communities to be able to generate electricity to sell to Twickenham and other mines. The SCMAC has been proactive to the extent of enlisting partners such as 350 Africa, CALS and Ahinasa to research the needs of villages and produce a Anglo American Platinum has, however, repeatedly failed to offer any concrete support even in the form of pilot projects and feasibility studies. Both company representatives and mine management were conspicuously absent at two events connected to a newly published research report making the case for Anglo's support notwithstanding invitations and prior engagements by the SCMAC. Valtera might respond that there is limited funding available because Twickenham generates no revenue being in care and maintenance. This does not hold water as Valterra is a vast revenue-generating group of companies and its decision to keep Twickenham non-operational for more than 10 years necessitates more social expenditure to be making a meaningful contribution to economic development of the area. They might also argue that as just one company they cannot solely be responsible for addressing systemic problems and can only play a supplementary role to the government. But this assumes that they have done everything they can possibly do. Have they? In 2024, Anglo American Platinum generated nearly Anglo American Platinum (in its new guise as Valterra Platinum) and other mining companies therefore have a choice: perpetuate energy apartheid or make good on their commitment to contribute towards a just transition worthy of its name. Robert Krause is the acting head of Environmental Justice at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Wits University
Globe and Mail
11-07-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
Ferne Cristall had a passion for the common good (and finding the perfect piece of fruit)
Ferne Cristall: Mentor. Mensch. Mother. Teacher. Born Aug. 10, 1954, in Brandon, Man.; died April 29, 2025, in Peterborough, Ont., from cancer; aged 70. Family lore has it that when Gary Cristall opened his schmatta business selling workingman's clothing in Brandon, Man., he insisted that he had a good reason for naming it the New System Store in 1912: When the revolution came marching along downtown Rosser Street, they'd know which side he was on. Ferne Cristall would echo her grandfather's line. Her parents, she once wrote, 'started me off in 'red diapers' and stirred my desire for a socially just world.' Ferne's mother Ellie taught mathematics at Brandon University while her father Arthur ran the family store. The Cristall household was a busy, welcoming place that didn't hesitate to take in strangers. Once Ellie went to court to defend a couple of hitchhikers who had been arrested while passing through the small Prairie city. 'I was a Jewish kid with an agnostic mother and atheist father in a Christian town,' Ferne recalled. She was so accustomed to her secular community that immersion in a Jewish milieu was beyond her. An often told family story was Ferne's stay at B'Nai Brith summer camp as a young teen. Ferne confessed, quite innocently, to her fellow campers: 'I'm Jewish.' In 1971, Ferne headed to Trent University where she studied anthropology, taking time off for extensive travel before graduating in 1978. During her travel, she found herself in Guatemala when a massive earthquake killed more than 24,000 people. Ferne did not leave but stayed to help with the recovery effort. Through her passion for the common good, her everyday life showed how ideas about social change could be put into practice. In 1978 Ferne joined the Development Education Centre (DEC), a Toronto group rooted in 1960s New Left politics dedicated to fighting global inequality. Ferne worked in DEC Films, distributing documentaries across Canada. Meeting Robert Clarke at DEC sparked a 45-year relationship that combined Ferne's magnetic, outgoing personality with Rob's wry, understated persona. Robert had a daughter, Gabrielle (Gabe), from a previous marriage. Their son Jonah was born in 1983. The family moved to Peterborough, Robert's hometown, in 1990. Ferne commuted to the University of Toronto to get her Bachelor of Education the following year. Her teaching career at Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School (PCVS) focused on helping English language learners, particularly newcomers whose confidence she had an uncanny knack for bolstering. She had a remarkable capacity for listening but a lot of trouble making decisions at the grocery store. Gabe recalls perhaps too much time needed to select just the right peach, or watermelon, or apples, or head of lettuce… No one could drop by Ferne's home without being greeted by a cornucopia of baked treats, fresh vegetables, fancy crackers, cheeses. Whatever she had at hand. She always welcomed friends of Jonah and Gabrielle. A friend of Gabe's recalled that Ferne was 'the only real parent in a sea of distracted boomers. … The only one who had a clue what was going on with us.' Ferne was a fixture in the local film, music and theatre scenes. She was an indispensable volunteer at Peterborough's ReFrame Film Festival, and specialized in programming documentaries. Given her lived experience, she had a particular interest in organizing panels and screenings on gender-based violence. Ferne also co-authored books about women's films and was a leader of Peterborough's refugee sponsorship community. Ferne unfailingly thought the best of others. She could sometimes be a soft touch for a hard luck story, unhesitatingly doling out cash to anyone in need. Diagnosed with cancer in 2024, Ferne underwent every possible treatment and wouldn't give up even as the end approached. She kept on screening documentaries for the 2025 ReFrame festival. Ferne remained at home for as long as she could. Meals and generosity overflowed. Jonah had to maintain a spreadsheet to organize the volume of visiting well-wishers and their casseroles. Through it all, Ferne kept apologizing for causing so much trouble. Coming from a woman so accustomed to giving, the beguiling paradox wasn't lost on those who knew her well. Jamie Swift is Ferne Cristall's friend. To submit a Lives Lived: lives@ Lives Lived celebrates the everyday, extraordinary, unheralded lives of Canadians who have recently passed. To learn how to share the story of a family member or friend, go online to
