[Sust-mar] This weekend! NB Social Forum + 100-Mile Dinner

[Tracy Glynn]

N.B. Social Forum!

On September 27-28, Fredericton will host the 2008 New Brunswick Social 
Forum a weekend of exciting and informative panel discussions, workshops 
and booths stocked with materials that are intended to enlighten and 
motivate the public on a variety of issues of burning concern, from 
language rights and tax reforms in New Brunswick to global environmental 
and social injustices.

For more info or to register: www.nbsf-fsnb.org or email 
info at frederictonpeace.org

Schedule of Events

Saturday, September 27

10 am
* Welcome in Wolustukwiyik (Maliseet), French and English.

10:15 am

RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK IN NB
* Regressive tax reforms, Atlantica & labour mobility - Michel Boudreau, 
New Brunswick Federation of Labour
* Barriers to accessing reproductive rights in NB - Peggy Cooke, 
coordinator of volunteers at the Morgentaler Clinic
* Attacks to post-secondary education - Graham Cox, Canadian Federation of 
Students
* Assault on native language in NB - Andrea Bear Nicholas, Native History 
Professor at St. Thomas University


11 am
SELLING WHAT SHOULD NEVER BE SOLD & TELLING LIES THAT SHOULD NEVER BE TOLD
* Keeping healthcare public - Debbie Lacelle, NB Healthcare Coalition
* Myths about the occupation of Palestine - Jack Gegenberg, Fredericton 
Palestine Solidarity
* Canadian gold mining in El Salvador - Chico Montes, community leader from 
El Salvador
* Media bias & NGO co-option on the Balkans - Judy Loo, social justice activist
* The Residential School Non-Apology - Roland Chrisjohn, STU Native Studies 
Professor

12:30 pm - Lunch (1 pm)
WHY GREEN ISN'T ENOUGH
* Environmental racism & the cost of our power to Colombians - Tracy Glynn, 
Co-editor, Mines & Communities
* Taxing carbon & social justice - Julie Michaud, Conservation Council of NB
* Commodification & the UNB Woodlot - Charlene Mayes, Friends of the UNB 
Woodlot
* World food crisis: The greatest failure of capitalist system - Alex 
Corey, student environmental activist

2 pm
CORPORATIONS IN CONTROL
* Crimes against the environment. Why do they go unpunished? - David Coon, 
Conservation Council of NB
* The Only Voice in Town: Inside the media monopoly of New Brunswick's 
Irving Empire - Erin Steuter, Mt. Allison University Professor
* Call centres in New Brunswick: The Maquiladoras of the North - Joan 
McFarland, STU Economics/Women's Studies Professor

6 pm
100-Mile Fall Harvest Dinner. The Conservation Council of New Brunswick is 
hosting a 100-Mile Dinner on Saturday September 27, 6:00 PM, Wimot United 
Church, King Street. The dinner is a celebration of everything local, from 
the meal itself to entertainment. Dinner: traditional harvest dinner of 
locally grown and raised fruits, vegetables, and turkey. Silent Auction: 
featuring works from local artisans. Entertainment: ECMA nominated 
singer/song writer Brent Mason Keynote Speaker: Betty Brown from the 
National Farmers Union. Cost: $15 per person or $40 per family of 4. 
Seating is limited so get your tickets at: True Food Organics, Westminister 
Books or the Conservation Council. To reserve tickets at the door or for 
more information call: 458-8747.

Sunday, September 28

10 am - 11am
*Refreshments, coffee, tea & networking.

11am-12pm
WHAT DO WE DO? STAND UP! FIGHT BACK! Part 1
* Modernization and resistance in the New Brunswick woods - Bill Parenteau, 
UNB history professor
* Fighting poverty in Fredericton - Dan Weston, Fredericton Anti-Poverty 
Organization
* Saving Saint John's Water - Ivan Court, Mayor of Saint John
* What New Brunswickers can learn from 50 years of the Cuban Revolution - 
Bob Whitney, UNBSJ history professor
* What "Self-Sufficiency" means for rural communities - Susan Machum, 
Canada Research Chair in Rural Social Justice, St. Thomas University

12:15-1:15 pm
WHAT DO WE DO? STAND UP! FIGHT BACK! Part 2
* Early French-Immersion in the courts - Clea Ward, Legal Team, Citizens 
for Education Choice
* Saint John: Can you be a Banana Republic without the benefit of fruit? - 
Patty Higgins, Saint John City Councillor
* Resistance to uranium - Yvonne Devine, Southeast Chapter, Conservation 
Council of NB
* Alternatives to violence/war - from Renous to Afghanistan - John McKendy, 
Quakers/Fredericton Peace Coalition
* Venezuela's explosion of popular power - Jay Hartling, Atlantic Regional 
Solidarity Network
* Defending the rights of the Passamaquoddy - Vera Francis, 
Nulankeyutomonen Nkihtahkomikumon (We Take Care of Our Land)

1:30 pm - 2 pm
WORKSHOPS
* Consensus/decision-making
* Open source publishing
* Know your rights
* Green jobs

2 pm - 3 pm
Small Group Sessions - Action on emerging themes/issues of interest 
generated by speakers/audience.

3 pm - 3:30 pm
Plenary/Wrap up

3:30 pm
Closing.