Message from the Executive Director:
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for your continuing support of CASSA through South Asian Heritage Month 2010. I am honoured to be writing to you in my new role as CASSA’s interim Executive Director as Neethan Shan is currently on a leave of absence as Executive Director of CASSA. I have met many of you over my last year as CASSA’s Welcoming Communities Initiative Community Engagement Coordinator, and am looking forward to connecting with many more of you as the summer begins.
Things have been busy during South Asian Heritage Month as our staff team and community partners continue to collaborate on events focused on amazing social justice activism by South Asians in our communities. We have appreciated your involvement in recent events and campaigns and have enjoyed connecting with many of you to reflect on present and past social justice struggles. Upcoming events featured below include our Youth Leadership Retreat on May 29th and our Annual General Meeting on June 21st. We are also pleased to welcome our new members, Himalayan Community Innovative Centre and Villa Karuna Home for Seniors.
On behalf of CASSA’s board and staff, I would like to thank Neethan Shan for his vision, guidance and commitment to CASSA during his tenure as Executive Director. I look forward to working with communities, member agencies, CASSA’s board and its invaluable staff to further CASSA’s vision: A Canada in which all communities are free from marginalization and are fully empowered to participate in defining Canada’s political, economic, social and cultural future.
Best Wishes,
Anita Khanna
Executive Director (Interim)
No Bill 94 Coalition Community Dialogue – May 3rd: The No Bill 94 Coalition held a Community Dialogue on May 3rd at Ryerson University. Bill 94 is legislation proposed to the Quebec National Assembly which would deny access to essential services (health care, education, daycare etc.) and employment to Muslim women who wear a niqab (or a face veil). The event was attended by over 100 people and featured presentations from Zahra Dhanani, No Bill 94 Coalition; Anver Emon, Faculty of Law University of Toronto; Barbara Hall, Ontario Human Rights Commission; Gilary Massa, Ryerson Students’ Union; Uzma Shakir, Atkinson Economic Justice Fellow and; Asmaa Hussein, No Bill 94 Coalition. Community members and panelists had an engaging discussion on further steps and action - please visit http://nonbill94.wordpress.com for more info about the coalition.
Fires of Resistance 3, Annual Youth Conference – May 9th: This conference focused on social justice struggles that South Asian youth are engaged in, from across the Greater Toronto Area. It was an excellent day of discussions, performances, creativity and empowerment made possible through strong volunteer leadership presented by the South Asian Youth Advisory Committee (SAYAC) and the Continuing Education Students' Association of Ryerson (CESAR). Workshops topics included Indigenous solidarity for people of colour, event planning, storytelling, the G8/G20, understanding the colour of poverty and health for all, despite immigration status.
May 18th Day of Action! Say NO to Bill 94!- Many people from across Canada joined the No 94 Movement for a Day of Action, to coincide with the proposed Bill 94 hearings on May 18th. A rally took place in Toronto with over 500 people and the day of Action also included call-in and letter writing events, blogathons, public demonstrations, educational campaigns, and online actions on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. You can still show your support by signing the petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nonbill94/
May Day and South Asian Heritage Day celebration – May 4th: CASSA celebrated the May Day and South Asian Heritage month in collaboration with Canadian Labour Congress, The Ontario Federation of Labour, Toronto and York Region Labour Council, United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, The Canadian Auto Workers' Union, Unite Here Local 75, and Coalition of Black Trade Unionist at the OFL Auditorium, 15 Gervais Drive, Toronto. Panelists Deena Ladd from Workers’ Action Centre and Naveen Mehta from United Food and Commercial Workers addressed ways to build up better relationships between organized labour bodies and South Asian communities. The individuals and organizations which were recognized for their outstanding involvement in the struggle for South Asian workers’ rights were Judy Vashti Persad from Toronto and York Region Labour Council, Fariah Chowdhury from No one is Illegal, Sri-Guggan Sri-Skanda-Rajah from Tamil Eelam Society, Rekha Sharma from Unite Here, Gurjeet Singh Sran from Sikh Activist Network, Dr. Kiran Mirchandani from University of Toronto and Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office.. The event ended with spellbinding performances by Nomanzland.
Health Equity Report Launch – May 17th: CASSA released the report “Diagnosis for Equity: An initial analysis of South Asian Health Inequities in Ontario” on May 17th at the North York Central Library Auditorium. The event was attended by a large number of community health workers, researchers and professionals in the health sector. A panel discussion took place during the launch. The report was prepared by Sheela Subramanian, who discussed her findings, sources and limitations of data collection with the audience. Other panelists were Subha Sankaran from Health Nexus and Anthony Mohammad from St. Michael’s Hospital and Anita Khanna from CASSA.
Click here to view the electronic version of this report.
City Hall Information Display: May 17th- 21st: CASSA, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO), South Asian Women’s Centre (SAWC) and the Alliance for South Asian Aids Prevention (ASAAP) hosted an information display at Toronto City Hall from May 17-21, 2010 as part of the South Asian Heritage Month Celebration to showcase how agencies are significantly contributing to bring positive changes in lives of South Asian communities in Ontario. Participants in the display showcased different documents (such as flyers, brochures etc.) pertaining to their projects/achievements with regard to South Asian communities. A panel discussion on working toward systemic change also took place featuring Andy Mark, Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter; Alina Chatterjee, Scadding Court Community Centre; Anita Balakrishna, Staff Lawyer, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario; Ray Siu, Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter.
South Asian Heritage Month Poster Competition – CASSA was pleased to award cash prizes to three entrants into our first annual poster competition. Artists 16 years or older who identify as South Asian were invited to celebrate South Asian heritage and incorporate anti-racism and anti-oppression principles into powerful and engaging art that depicts a deeper understanding of South Asian communities in Canada. Winning Poster artists and poster titles were Hafsa Zarook, My Place; Lubaba Khan, Unity in Diversity; Ruba Khan, A Canadian by Nationality, A South Asian by Memory.
The cash awards of $250 each were provided by Citizenship Immigration Canada.
For additional information on the competition, please email nafisa.tanjeem@cassa.on.ca or call 416-932-1359 X 11.
UPCOMING EVENTS OF CASSA
Community of Practice for the prevention of violence by South Asian Youth: CASSA is interested in engaging 15-20 organizations for the purpose of setting up a Community of Practice for front line workers dealing with South Asian youth and families. The “Community of Practice” is designed to provide a platform for youth workers who serve South Asian youth and families to share knowledge gained through their experiences, foster learning and collaboration to explore of commonly-faced problems and obstacles. Participants will also help CASSA develop a violence prevention model for South Asian youth. The East Scarborough Storefront, Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office and the Alternative Youth Centre for Employment (AYCE) have already joined our “Community of Practice.” If you or your organizations are interested in joining please visit www.cassa.on.ca/community-of-practice. For more information, contact Auvniet at auvniet@cassa.on.ca or 416-932-1359 extn 16.
Trailblazers United: South Asian Youth Leadership Series: CASSA with the support of the City of Toronto will be embarking upon a youth lead violence prevention initiative,Trailblazers United: South Asian youth Leadership Series. This is a peer-based, youth lead project to encourage youth working with and training other youth to create awareness around violence and the root causes of violence. We will train 10-12 South Asian youth from four priority neighbourhoods in Scarborough including Crescent Town, Malvern, Scarborough Village and Eglinton East– Kennedy Park to lead violence prevention initiatives. These initiatives which can take the form of events, forums or projects will be created and implemented by youth within their own respective communities. Later on, these youth will also be involved in helping other youth create and deliver their own violence prevention initiatives across Toronto.
If you are between the ages of 15-24 and interested in this program, please apply online at www.cassa.on.ca/trailblazers.
Youth Leadership Retreat – May 29th: CASSA in collaboration with the City of Toronto is organizing a Youth Leadership Retreat on May 29th from 10 am to 4:30 pm at Cederbrook Community Centre. This event is a part of the celebration of South Asian Heritage Month.
There will be various interactive workshops and sessions planned for the day. More details will be made available shortly.
CASSA AGM – June 21st: CASSA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on June 21st at Friends House, 60 Lowther Avenue, Toronto from 4:30 to 7:30 pm, so mark the date on your calendars!! More details will be released shortly.
UPCOMING EVENTS OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
SAFSS celebrates South Asian Heritage Day- May 28th: South Asian Family Support Services (SAFSS) is celebrating South Asian Heritage day on May 28th at 1154 Morningside Ave. E., Unit 206, Scarborough from 11 to 4 pm. To rent a table and for more information, call 416 431 4847 extn 221 or 232.
Changing Face of Ontario - Access, Equity, and Governance - Professional Development Day –June 16th: Mental Health and Addiction Service Providers invite you to participate in their second Professional Development day geared towards senior management, board members, members of equity/diversity committees and interested individuals. This event will provide an opportunity for people across sectors to dialogue and engage, identify key deliverables and set out areas of accountability to the communities they serve. TO REGISTER ONLINE: visit www.innovative4you.com/changingface.htm or contact Sherry Sim, Event Planner at 1-866-655-8548.
SAFSS celebrates South Asian Heritage Day- May 28th: South Asian Family Support Services (SAFSS) is celebrating South Asian Heritage day on May 28th at 1154 Morningside Ave. E., Unit 206, Scarborough from 11 to 4 pm. To rent a table and for more information, call 416 431 4847 extn 221 or 232.
Social Planning Toronto: Moving Forward, Breaking Through! A COMMUNITY PLANNING FORUM FOR ANTI-POVERTY GROUPS IN TORONTO – June 12th: Some steps forward, but many more to go: How can we push ahead and get real change? Join with other community groups across the city fighting to end poverty; share what’s happening in your community; hear what others are doing; connect with new ideas; explore new opportunities to open the way for change. Saturday, June 12 10:00 - 3:00 p.m. North York Memorial Hall 5110 Yonge Street, next to North York Civic Centre For RSVP and more information, please contact: Mary Micallef - 416-351-0095 ext. 251 or mmicallef@socialplanningtoronto.org. Child-minding available by request, accessible venue and refreshments provided. n)
JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
@Work Help Desk Staff
Employer: United Way Toronto
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
Villa Karuna Home for Seniors is looking for a volunteer administrator who can assist with reception, office administration work and also provide support to the Board with meetings and minute taking. The position requires 5 hours a day, 3 days a week. All travel expenses will be reimbursed.
Qualifications
-The ability to communicate in English and Tamil
-Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Outlook, Excel), Database Management (FileMaker Pro) and Internet
Application deadline is June 10th, 2010. For more information and to send your application, please contact Indrani Nagenthiram at 416-266-6473, 416-200-6479 or villakaruna@sympatico.ca
TDSB launches Parent Satisfaction Survey: As a part of the process to improve parent engagement in learning, a parent Satisfaction Survey is currently being conducted by TDSB. The survey will provide an opportunity to parents to give their feedback to the Board about TDSB schools. The results will provide a benchmark against which a future progress can be measured and used to inform Board and School improvement plans. The survey is available online at www.tdsb.on.ca/parentsurvey.
Conference on “Recovery Approaches to Trauma, Mental Illness/Addiction in Racialized Communities: A Community Perspective” – June 8th: Across Boundaries presents this conference on Tuesday, June 8th from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, 16 Spadina Road, Toronto. The focus of the conference is to explore recovery/healing approaches used in different countries and in communities in the GTA to deal with wide scale trauma, mental illness and/or addictions. For more information and to RSVP, contact 416 787-3007 ext 224 or martha@acrossboundaries.ca. During the lunch break, launching of the book “Mental Health Race and Culture” Third Edition by Dr. Suman Fernando will take place.
Accessibility Standards for Customer Service - Information and Outreach Forum for Non-Profit Organizations –June 15th: Non-profit organizations in Ontario will soon be required to comply with a new regulation on providing accessible customer service to people with disabilities which is called the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, Ontario Regulation 429/07. The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario (ADO) is hosting this forum for non-profit organizations to learn about the customer service standard.on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at the CNIB Centre (1929 Bayview Avenue, Toronto) between 8:00 and 11:45 am. Registration deadline is May 31, 2010. There is no registration fee. For more information contact416-326-1289 or 416-314-7021
You or your organization can also become a member of CASSA, if you wish to support our mission/mandate. Please visit our website www.cassa.on.ca for details on our mission, vision, values and strategic priorities. The members will receive a regular update on various happenings in the social services/social justice field in Ontario's South Asian communities.
Annual Membership fee is only $10 for individuals and $20 for organizations. Joining as a member will also keep you informed of opportunities about jobs, volunteering and community events. Click here for more information about becoming a member of CASSA and its benefits.
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