Voices-Voix Canada is a non-partisan coalition of Canadians and Canadian organizations committed to defending our collective and individual rights to dissent, advocacy and democratic space. The Ontario Humanist Society is a member of the Voices-Voix coalition.
Members may be interested in being involved with the following event:
You may already be a member or supporter of the Voices-Voix Coalition or aware of our work. Perhaps you are not aware of Voices-Voix but you are deeply concerned about the state and health of human rights advocacy, democracy and dissent in Canada. If so, we hope you will be able to join us for a meeting on May 11th to discuss these concerns and help craft a strategy for responding to the many ways that democratic principles and human rights institutions and organizations are being undermined and weakened in the country.
The meeting will be held at: PSAC Building, 1st floor, 233 Gilmour Street, Ottawa on Friday May 11, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. There will be a telephone hook-up for individuals outside Ottawa.
The meeting will review the many reactions and responses from civil society to these deeply troubling developments over the past several years, with a focus on the numerous concrete steps announced of late (through the March 2010 budget and other measures) to restrict the space for voices of dissent in Canada. We will review the impact and discuss anticipated challenges arising from measures such as defunding and targeting programs, projects and organizations involved in advocacy and social justice.
We will discuss a proposal for an important, substantive conference in the fall of 2012 to look at these issues and consider in greater depth both short and long-term strategies for responding. We hope that individuals will come prepared and interested in joining us in organizing that conference as well as taking part in the ongoing work of the Voices-Voix Coalition.
For more information about this meeting, click here.
