Civic Engagement Forum, 2005
Background
In 2004, the Richmond City Council approved the 2004-2010 Richmond Intercultural Strategic Plan and Work Program prepared by the Richmond Intercultural Advisory Committee. Strategic Direction #4 in the Plan would “address participation gaps observed in Provincial, Federal, City and stakeholder events adn electoral process to facilitate immigrant involvement.”
Back in May 2003, after the last civic election, CES was invited to give a presentation at the RIAC meeting to share our experience in encouraging civic participation, including voting. We prepared a position paper entitled “Recommendations on Enhancing Ethnic Participation in Municipal Affairs” and used it as the base for our presentation. The presentation was well received by the RIAC.
In early 2005, with the Plan approved, the RIAC again invited CES to meet with their sub-committee regarding Strategic Direction #4. The idea of a civic engagement forum was discussed. After a couple of planning meetings, the decision was made to hold the forum at the Richmond City Hall in September 2005. While the forum was open to all, community organizations were specifically invited to come and share their experience and ideas about engaging Richmond citizens.
More than 70 citizens participated in the forum, including members of the general public, representatives of community organizations, city councillors, and various community leaders. They interacted actively with the guest speakers and contributed a lot to the breakout discussion groups. Participants were also given a handout that contained various resources and further reading suggestions in relation to civic engagement.
Editor’s Words
Much has happened since our last newsletter was published in June 2003. The President’s Report will provide a summary of our activities since that time. Details of these activities will be described in Program Updates. The next provincial election will be held in May 2005, together with a referendum on BC’s electoral reform. Find out what’s at stake. Plus more… about web blogs as a new Civil Society Development, and a reflective piece on the value of dialogue.
If you are interested in helping us compile future newsletters, please contact the editor at the civiced@vcn.bc.ca. Feedback about this newsletter can be sent to the same email address.
Inside this issue:
- President’s Report
- Civil Society Development: Weblogs as Civic Participation
- Program Updates: Understanding First Nations
- Program Updates: ACT for Youth
- Program Updates: Study Circle Pilot Project
- 2005 Provincial Election & Referendum on Electoral Reform
- Dialogue and Active Citizenship
President’s Report (2003 and 2004)
In the summer of 2003, CES developed a new program called Active Citizenship Training (ACT) for Youth and delivered it to about 40 participants in the SUCCESS Youth Leadership Millennium Program. Training was offered again in the summer of 2004, also to participants of the YLM Program.
2004 was the year for federal election. We organized a forum in which political commentators discussed issues relevant to the election. On election day, we operated a Chinese hotline to answer questions from voters. More than 200 callers used the service. During the campaign, board members were invited on radio to call for voters to exercise their right and explain the importance of participating in the election.
In 2004, we experimented with the Study Circle, in which a small group of citizens engaged one another in learning and discussion about a specific issue in society. The pilot project was completed, but its continuation will require new resources beyond what CES currently possesses.
In November 2004, CES responded to a survey by the Canadian Ethnocultural Council (funded by Elections Canada), which analyzed barriers faced by ethnic groups in elections. Due to our experience in voter education, we were invited to submit a response.
The CES website continued to be updated with new information and resources. For example, we created a resource page for the 2004 federal election, and now has one for the 2005 provincial election. Both pages can be found in the Resources section of the CES website.
I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to our accomplishments in the last 2 years.
Michael Yue, President
Civil Society Development: Weblogs as Civic Participation
One form of civic participation is to openly express one’s thoughts about society. While we are all protected by the freedom of speech in a democratic system, not everyone has access to public channels of expression for their thoughts to be known. At best, we may occasionally write to the newspapers, call a radio program, or post messages on an internet forum. And then there are the odd chances of being interviewed in a survey. But in the end, we can’t really say that we have a regular platform to make our ideas known, not to mention having some influence on society.
Enter the weblog (or blog), a website structured like a journal, that allows practically anyone to publish his/her thoughts to be read online. Creating a blog is much easier than creating a normal website. Using a structured platform, you can easily produce a “chronicle of your intellectual development” — as frequently as you would like to. Weblogs are also used by groups of people with similar interests or values to exert their presence and influence. Check out Blogs Canada (www.blogscanada.com) to learn more about blogs.
Program Updates: Understanding First Nations
CES started the first Understanding First Nations program in the summer of 201 In 2003, the program took a special turn when 14 Ontario youth (Visions Youth) joined 10 BC youth in a 1-week excursion to experience the cultures and history of the BC First Nations people. They visited the Burrard Indian Band in Vancouver (Tsleil-Wantuth Nation) and the Xatsu’ll Heritage Village in Williams Lake (Great Secwepemc Nation). They also attended a special workshop on the BC treaty process.
One youth wrote that “this project was very beneficial to me in many ways, as I learne to respect my own culture and the importance of preserving it. I have also realized taht life is not about material things and we need to appreciate all that we have because it can easily be taken away.”
This summer, CES will work with Visions Youth to conduct a youth exchange program. The program is sponsored by SEVEC (Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada) with funding from Exchanges Canada. BC youth will have the opportunity to learn more about the First Nations in Eastern Canada, while their Ontario peers will visit BC. Exchanges Canada is a Government of Canada program taht provides financial assistance to young Canadians who participate in an exchange.
You can contact Mabel Tung at mabeltung@canada.com if you want to find out more about this program. You can read a detailed chronicle of the 2003 program on our website.
Program Updates: ACT for Youth
In the summer of 2003, CES delivered a series of training sessions for the SUCCESS outh Leadership Millennium (YLM) Program. The series, called ACT (Active Citizenship Training) for Youth, was designed to introduce youth to the concept of “active citizenship” through interactive learning, including workshops, interviews, presentations, and reports.
The participants learned from a simulation game, where they role played as selection panelists to choose the Winner of an Annual Active Citizenship Award. They were responsible for establishing the criteria for assessing the nominees, compiling profiles of the nominees (through face-tofact interview), presenting the profiles to the whole panel, and voting democratically to determine the final winner.
The nominees were active citizens who have had much contribution in their fields of interest and commitment. About 40 participants were divides into work teams of 3-4 members each (with the support of team coaches and SUCCESS youth leaders), responsible for planning and conducting the nominee interviews, and presenting nominee profiles to the whole group. In the end, each participant had the opportunity to cast a vote to determine the final winner.
A year later in the summer of 2004, the same program was delivered to SUCCESS YLM youth. Tim Lai, an undergraduate Journalism student from the University of Carlton (Ontario), took on the role of chief facilitator.
This year in 2005, we would like to invite other young adults to help with this program. Contact Michael Yue (myue@infinet.net or 604-771-7227) if you would like to be involved in the ACT for Youth program. You can read a detailed chronicle of the 2003 program on our website.
2005 Provincial Election: Vote on General Election Day
A Provincial General Election will be held on May 17, 2005. This time, voters will cast TWO ballots: one of an MLA and one for the Referendum on Electoral Reform (more about the referendum in the next section).
You can register to vote if you are:
- 18 years of age or older, or will be 18 on General Voting Day;
- A Canadian citizen; and
- A resident of BC for the past 6 months
Elections BC has merged the federal and provincials list. This means that if you were registered to vote in the 2004 federal election, you are no on the provincial voters list. You can find out if you are registered using one of the following methods. 1. Go online at www.elections.bc.ca 2. Call Elections BC at 1-800-661-8683 You can download a Voter Information Guide at http://www.elections.bc.ca/reg/voter.reg. htm. *Only 55% of eligible votes cast their ballots in the 2001 provincial election.
Referendum on Electoral Reform: BC-STV
On General Election Day (May 17, 2005), BC voters, while choosing their MLAs, will also have an opportunity to decide if they want to adopt a new electoral system called BC-STV (BC Single Transferable Vote).
Last year, Vancouver voters went to the poll to decide if they wanted to adopt a new municipal electoral system. This time, we are doing it for the whole province. In 2004, the BC Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform (www.citizensassembly.bc. ca), a body composed of 160 randomly selected BC citizens, worked diligently to learn about the different electoral systems in the world, conducted province-wide consultation, and finally recommended a new system called BC-STV for voters to decide.
According to the Final Report of the Assembly, BC-STV is a proportional representation system, making it very different from the current system of First- Past-The-Post (FPTP). In FPTP, we select one MLA to represent each constituency. BC now has 79 MLAs representing 79 constituencies. In each constituency, the candidate who receives the highest number of votes will win and become the MLA. The party that has the highest number of MLA seats will form the government. In this system, the number of MLA seats won has no inherent relationship with the number of votes received by the party.
In the new BC-STV, single-member constituencies will be merged to form multiple-member constituencies. We will select 2 to 7 MLAs in each constituency. Due to the design of BC-STV, it is expected that there will be a stronger inherent relationship between the number of MLA seats won and the number of votes received. This is known as “proportional representation”. In theory, the larger is the number of MLAs in a constituency, the higher is the chance of proportional representation.
Like in any referendum, there is now a YES and a NO camp to campaign for influencing voter decision. CES has conducted a workshop and a debate to educate the public about the electoral reform. The CES website has useful links to the 2 camps and other learning resources about electoral reform and STV. Visit www.civiceducationsociety.ca/ Provincial%20Election%202005.htm.
Dialogue and Active Citizenship
We engage in conversations all the time, but “genuine dialogue” is scarce these days. We often seem to lack the adequate time or willingness to engage one another in a meaningful dialogue, whereby deep thoughts and ideas are exchanged. We tend to focus more on getting something done than on understanding why and how we do things.
We have many questions in our minds, but we tend to seek simple answers. We often lack the patience to dig deeper into issues that face us, hoping that complex issues can have simple resolutions.
A healthy civil society needs an active citizenship that not only acts, but also seeks dialogue. Without genuine dialogue, citizens will act from their own perspectives, without considering the needs of others. In an increasingly diversified society, dialogue between citizens is the best way to ensure that deep, mutual understanding exists before actions are taken.
To ensure continuous dialogue, an environment conducive to this purpose must exist. In the last CES newsletter, I made reference to the idea of the Study Circle, a method of dialogue. Developing and implementing such a mechanism will require resource commitment from both government and community. We will try to look for the necessary resources to make this happen.
But there are many other possible mechanisms for citizen dialogue. We welcome suggestions from you. If you have any great ideas of enhancing dialogue between citizens, please contact me at myue@infinet.net or 604-771- 7227. Michael Yue, CES President
1. Background
In 2003, the CES Board of Directors was looking for new ways to encourage and facilitate civic participation. One of the ideas raised was the “study circles”, which have been used in many western democracies to engage their citizens in dialogue and action.
Simply put, a study circle is a small group of people (anywhere from 8-12) who come together to focus on the study of civic issues and explore solutions to these issues. These circles are usually led by facilitators who remain non-partisan in the process of discussion, so that the participating citizens can express and exchange their views and opinions in a safe and non-hostile environment. Study circles are designed to be inclusive and tolerant occasions for dialogue, and are often issue-specific.
The Study Circles Resource Centre in the US provides useful information about study circles.
(Click here to find the study resources used in the project.)
2. Objectives
In January 2004, the CES Board of Directors agreed that a pilot project should be conducted to assess the value of the study circle method for the work of CES. A group of devoted directors and members participated in this pilot. We have determined that CES study circles aim at:
- providing a supportive environment where, as a group, we help one another in learning about an issue
- building a knowledge base to allow us to speak on certain issues with more solid foundation and authority
- sharing the knowledge base with interested citizens and providing guidance in their learning
Thus, the current focus is more on understanding civic issues, than on deriving solutions or taking actions. Nonetheless, we believe that an adequate understanding of civic issues will provide a rational foundation for action.
3. Topic of Study
To arrive at a topic of study, the participants were first asked to each recommend 2-3 topics. A list of recommended topics was then compiled and sent back to all the participants. Each of them had to choose 3 topics from the list and rank them. Topics that were ranked #1 were given 3 points, #2 with 2 points, and #3 with 1 point. After the points were added, “health care” was chosen as the topic of study.
4. Progress
First Meeting – February 7, 2004
At the first meeting, participants agreed that even “health care” was too broad a topic to be manageable in this pilot project. After much discussion, we were able to narrow the topic down to “senior health care”.
In the end, this topic was broken in smaller areas of focus:
- Aging/quality of life – philosophy of senior care
- What services are provided for seniors
- Direction of government policy in 3 to 5 years
- Funding/Budgetary issues
- Accessibility issues
- Affordability (user perspective)
- Pharmacare – the changes in the new policy and its impact on seniors
- Support service/system
- Patient rights
- Assessment of service quality/standard
Participants divided themselves into smaller groups and chose the areas of focus that interested them to study. Each group would report their study results in the second meeting, scheduled for March 13, 2004.
The following list represents only a small number of resources about health care in Canada and BC.
Politics website backgrounder
- Mapleleafweb.com – This politics website has a very good backgrounder on health care in Canada. Look for “Health Care” on the Features page.
Government policies, budgets, reports, etc.
- Health Canada (federal)
- Ministry of Health Services (BC)
- BC Health Authorities (link to the 5 BC regional health authorities)
Fiscal aspects
- Investing in Canada’s Health Care System – Budget 2003, Department of Finance, Canada
- Population Aging, Health Care Spending and Sustainability: Do we really have a crisis?, Joe Ruggeri, September 2002, Caledon Institute of Social Policy ( www.caledoninst.org)
Patient’s Bill of Rights
- The BC Nurses Union has published a Patient’s Bill of Rights.
- Compare with the European Charter of Patient Rights.
Performance evaluation
- BC Health Performance, September 2002, BC Ministry of Health Planning
- BC Health Performance (Summary), September 2002, BC Ministry of Health Planning
Selected Document about Senior Care
- A Guide for the Development of a Comprehensive System of Support to Promote Active Aging (2003), developed as part of the horizontal collaboration between Mexico and Canada with support from the Pan-American Health Organizations (PAHO), presents a conceptual framework, principles and operational guidelines of implementation, as well as assessment questions.
- Statistics Canada published a survey report in 2002 called Caring for an Aging Society. The report uses data from the 2002 General Social Survey (GSS) to provide a picture of caregiving and receiving for the aging Canadian population.
Chronicle of “Active Citizenship Training (ACT) for Youth”, Summer 2003
During the summer of 2003, CES delivered a special program for the youth participants of the SUCCESS Youth Leadership Millennium (YLM) Program. The program, ACT for Youth, was designed to introduce the youth to the concept of “active citizenship” through a series of interactive learning activities, including workshops, interviews, presentations, and reports.
The youth participants learned from a simulation game, where they role played as selection panelists to choose the winner of an Annual Active Citizenship Award. They were responsible for establishing the criteria for assessing the nominees, compiling profiles of the nominees (through face-to-face interviews), presenting the profiles to the whole panel, and eventually voting democratically to determine the final winner.
The nominees were active citizens who have had much contribution in their fields of interests and commitment. About 40 youth participants were divided into work teams of 3-4 members each (with the support of team coaches and SUCCESS youth leaders), responsible for planning and conducting the nominee interviews, and presenting nominee profiles to the whole group. In the end, each participant had the opportunity to cast a vote to determine the final winner.
This program has since become a regular CES project. Many youth have benefited from participating. If you are interested in finding out more about when the program will be offered, please contact us.
August 1, 2003, Workshop: Introduction to Active Citizenship
Facilitators: Michael Yue, Meena Wong, and Stephen Liu
The participants were introduced to the learning objectives and activities of the program, the facilitators and other program assistants (team coaches and SUCCESS youth leaders). They had the opportunity to discuss the meaning of active citizenship and start developing the nominee interview questions.
August 3, 2003, Workshop: Learning Interview Skills
Facilitators: Michael Yue, Meena Wong, and Stephen Liu
Guest Speaker: Winnie Hwo, Fairchild TV
A reputable news expert, Winnie Hwo from Fairchild TV, was invited to speak on the topic of journalistic interviews. After her talk, the participants worked in their own teams to finalize the nominee interview questions. They were also briefed on the importance of interview logistics.
August 4-21, 2003: Interviewing the nominees and preparing for the final presentations
Team coaches: Virginia Chiu, Philip Fung, Sophia Liu, Kenneth Tung, and Mabel Tung (with the assistance of SUCCESS youth leaders)
Each work team was responsible for contacting the nominee, arranging for and conducting the interview, and preparing a presentation of the nominee profile in front of the whole group. The team coaches provided guidance and support during this stage.
August 22, 2002: Final Presentation of Nominee Profiles
Facilitators: Michael Yue and Meena Wong
Some team coaches were present
Team presentations were delivered and the winner of the Annual Active Citizen Award was chosen through secret balloting.
September 1, 2003: Submission of Nominee Profile Write-Up
Each team was responsible for writing up its nominee profile and submitted it to the program coordinator. Click here to see a submitted profile that was reviewed and approved by the nominee. (The profile is in Adobe Acrobat format.)
Acknowledgement
ACT for Youth would not have been possible without the generous support from the interviewees, who have taken time out of their busy schedule to share their civic participation experience with the youth. Special thanks go to Shashi Assassnand, Lois Carson Boyce, John Cheng, Jennifer Larsen, Reggie Ho, Mason Loh, Annie McKitrick, Penny Pedersen and Ann Takagi. We would also like to thank Winnie Hwo of Fairchild TV to be our guest speaker, sharing her journalistic experience with the youth.
The commitment and support of the workshop facilitators, team coaches, SUCCESS youth leaders, and SUCCESS staff made the program a successful project. The positive learning attitude of the youth participants was most appreciated, in light of other learning objectives that they had to fulfill in the Youth Leadership Millennium Program. It has been a positive learning experience for everyone involved.
Editor’s Words
Welcome to Issue 2 of the CES Newsletter. From this issue onward, the newsletter will be published annually. This decision was made in light of the launch of the new CES website, which will now serve as a more immediate channel of communication and information sharing. (To find out more about the CES website, turn to “CES Goes Online” on Page 2.) If you are interested in helping us to compile future newsletters, please contact the editor at 604-771-7227.
Michael Yue, Editor
Inside this issue:
- President’s Report
- Study Circles: Citizens Dialogue and Action
- Special Feature: CES Goes Online
- Net Pointer: Building Online Communities
- Global Citizenship
- Civic Election 2002 and Voter Turnout Project
- 2003 Summer Program: Understanding First Nations
President’s Report
I am delighted to report to you that the Civic Education Society achieved tremendous work last year. These activities were results of the contributions of our talented and caring members and volunteers.
- Civic Election, 2002
- Radio Programs (AM 1320 and AM 1470)
- Hotline service (AM 1470)
- All Chinese-Canadian Candidates Forum
- Chinese-Canadian voter turnout in Vancouver and Richmond. Published 2 reports.
- Volunteers Appreciation Dinner, 2002
- Against Reckless Driving and Street Racing, 2003
- Public Forum (Co-organizers: SUCCESS, Richmond Health Board, Richmond Mandarin Lions Club, supported by RCMP and ICBC)
- Public Education Program (Partners: Fairchild TV, Talent TV, AM 1320, AM 1470, FM 96.1, Sing Tao and Ming Pao)
- Government Liaison, 2003
- Presented a position paper to Richmond Intercultural Advisory Committee on how to enhance ethnic participation in municipal affairs.
In 2003, the Board set long-term and short term goals for CES. To enhance our strengths, we will build stronger working relationships with community partners.Internally, through new activities and tools such as email and the new CES website, we will improve our communication with members and volunteers. The new website will help promote our work and provide civic education resources to the community.
I would like to thank all of our members and volunteers who had contributed their efforts to the Society. Ken Tung, President
Study Circles: Citizen Dialogue and Action
There are many ways to facilitate citizen dialogue. One method is the Study Circle. “A study circle is simply a group of 8-12 people from different backgrounds and viewpoints who meet several times to talk about an issue. In a study circle, everyone has an equal voice, and people try to understand each other’s views. They do not have to agree with each other. The idea is to share concerns and look for ways to make things better. A facilitator helps the group focus on different views and make sure the discussion goes well.” (extracted from the website of the Study Circles Resource Centre, www.studycircles.org.)
In the next year or so, CES is going to develop a mechanism to train study circle facilitators and help the community to organize study circles. CES will play an educational and facilitative role, while community members will decide what issues they want to tackle and how they plan to take action, if needed.
If you are interested in becoming a study circle facilitator, please contact us.
Special Feature: CES Goes Online
In 2002, the CES Board approved a plan to develop an organizational website. The new website has the following objectives:
- Provide online communication channels between the CES Board, members, supporters, partners and the general public
- Provide an online platform for civic education and political participation
- Promote the work of CES
- Attract new members, sponsors, donors and partners
- Serve as an archive for CES activities
Websites are dynamic entities. At this stage of its development, the CES website is the result of our modest effort to gain an online presence. If you are interested in providing assistance to the continuous improvement of the website, please contact us at
See you online: www.civiceducationsociety.ca
* The CES website is hosted by the Vancouver Community Net (www.vcn.bc.ca), which owns and operates a free, publicly accessible, noncommercial computer utility that provides a public space on the internet.
Net Pointer: Building Online Communities
One of the wonders of the internet is its capacity to facilitate the building of online communities. While communities as we know them have spatial or temporal limitations, online communities cut across those limitations to allow for freer association of the like-minded.
Over the years, many giant internet service providers, such as AOL, Yahoo! and MSN, have developed tools and services that make it possible for their members to create online communities, bringing together people with similar interests, political stances, religions, or philosophies. In line with the development of the new CES website, we have also created an online community on Yahoo!. What we have set up is an online forum, or discussion group. When you belong to this forum, you will be able to communicate your thoughts and ideas (in English or Chinese) with other forum members using various online tools, including email. The messages you send are read by other members of the forum, so the discussion is public. (Of course, you always have the option of taking your discussion private by sending emails to the individuals you want to communicate with.)
Online forums are extensions of real-life discussions. They are commonly used by people to continue with their discussions and associations after they have met in real-life situations. Many people today have multiple membership in various online groups, not dissimilar to our real-life experience of belonging to different organizations, clubs, and associations, etc.
If you are a CES member, you can join the CES Group on Yahoo! and experience the benefits of online discussions and community building. Joining the group is by invitation only. Please contact the group owner at this email (info@civiceducationsociety.ca) to express your interest. To find out more about Yahoo! Groups, go to www.groups.yahoo.com.
Global Citizenship
When he was asked where he came from, the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes replied, “I am a citizen of the world.” By saying that, he refused to be defined simply by his local origins and group affiliations; he insisted on defining himself in terms of more universal aspirations and concrns. The Stoics who followed his lead developed his image of the kosmoolites, or world citizens, arguing that each of us dwells, in effect, in two communities – the local community, and the broader community of human argument and aspiration.
To put the ancient concept of world citizens in the contemporary context, one can clearly see its relevance as we are all talking about globalization and its impact on us. Most of us are probably familiar with globalization as defined in economic terms, but being global is not just about gaining profit from economic activities. Being global is to CARE FOR THE WORLD in human terms. As an example, Oxfam, in consultation with key educators, has published a curriculum for global citizenship that enables young people to develop concerns about the world, challenge poverty and injustice, and take real effective action for change. The specific focus of this curriculum is the challenge of poverty, the eradication of which, believed by Oxfam, is the only way to ensure a secure and sustainable future for everyone. (For more information of the Oxfam curriculum, go to www.oxfam.org.uk/ coolplanet.)
Globalization is a highly controversial topic. As global citizens, we may take different perspectives on its nature and impact. People may not agree, but it’s important to learn about various positions and make our own judgement rationally.
Civic Election 2002 and Voter Turnout Project
Following our tradition of promoting participation in the Canadian political process, CES started a voter education campaign for the 2002 Civic Election by organizing an all Chinese-Canadian Candidates Meeting in October 2002. We then operated an Election Hotline on the Election Day.
As the last chapter of the campaign, our volunteers conducted a study on Chinese- Canadian voter turnout in Vancouver and Richmond. It is the third time we conducted such a study. (First one in the 1999 Civic Election and second one in the 2001 Richmond By-Election). 2 reports were published to summarize the study findings, and to discuss the findings in the context of understanding the political participation of immigrants and ethnocultural/visible minorities. The first report (Summary Report) is downloadable from the CES website; the second report (Extended Report) can be obtained by special request with a small donation to CES (contact Michael Yue at 604-771-7227 for details).
It was our honour that CES was invited by the Intercultural Advisory Committee, City of Richmond, to present the project and our thoughts on how to facilitate the political participation of the Chinese community. This opportunity proved that our work was recognized and that we would be able to make a difference, thanks to the commitment of our members and supporters. The position paper is downloadable from the CES website
Understanding First Nations People: Join Us This Summer!
In summer 2001, CES organized a summer program that helped participants understand First Nations people in BC, thanks to funding from the Chinese Canadian Association of Public Affairs (CCAPA). The program was a great success. The new CES website has an extensive section on the 2001 program. You will find it in the “CES Archives”, under the title of Chronicle of ‘Understanding First Nations’.
This summer, we are doing the program again. The 2003 program is tentatively scheduled for August 17-22. Both youth and adults are welcome to participate.
We will take participants to First Nations communities for first-hand experience of how the First Nations people live their lives, see the world, deal with day-to-day challenges, revitalize their cultures and languages, assert their rights as indigenous people in this country, and work hard to develop their economies. Workshopswill also be organized to provide the participants with more knowledge about the First Nations in Canada.
As indigenous people in Canada, the First Nations have suffered tremendous injustice in the past. Many issues surround their existence in modern day Canada, complex issues that are rooted in history and often require much effort to understand. This program is a small first step to encourage everyone to learn more about the First Nations, since they are as much a part of Canada’s future as we are.
If you would like to find out more about the program, please contact Mabel Tung: (Email) mabeltung@canada.com (Tel) 604-274-8248.
