January 2017
The year has begun with a sense of optimism on the policy front. In the dying days of 2016, there was a flurry of activities coming out of Ottawa as the Federal government announced one policy directive after the other.
November has been filled with surprises so far. Here it is mid-month and at the time of this writing we are enjoying weather that reminds us of early Fall. The leaves are mostly gone but the memory of the glorious reds, yellows, oranges and browns are fresh in our minds and remind us of why we treasure our country and its changing seasons.
In the last few weeks, we lost two stalwarts of the sector – Kay Blair and Fred Franklin. Both were extraordinary leaders in the social justice work of the sector, Kay with a focus on immigrant settlement, and women economic and social empowerment; and Fred on refugee protection and detention issues for all those imprisoned, refugees or not.
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Executive Director’s Message - September 2016
This is the front page of Canada’s largest newspaper that greeted me last weekend. I had to read twice to ensure that I did not misread: “67. The percentage of Canadians who agree that immigrants should be screened for anti-Canadian values.” And this: “29. The percentage of Canadians who believe the state has a role in telling women what they can wear”. Excuse me?
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Getting started on the writing of my piece this month was difficult. I couldn’t land on themes I wanted to explore, information or opinions I wanted to share or even random thoughts. It took me a while to realize that I couldn’t focus on one or two things because there is so much going on - so much noise, so much news, so much discord, too many deaths. It all feels heavy and urgent and complex.
There are two initiatives that have been my focus for the past few weeks that I want to share with you. While the links between the two may not be casually apparent, they are related as both their goals are about change – attitudinal and systems change.