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CURRENT CALENDAR OF EVENTS >>> |
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PAST EVENTS 2002 Attacking Voter Apathy Attacking Voter Apathy was a non-partisan public forum held at Fort Calgary in Barracks Hall on April 18, 2002, and was hosted by the Canada West Foundation, the Council for Canadian Unity and Winning Women. The event was fully sponsored by the Calgary Foundation's Neighbourhood Grants Program with support from EnCana Corporation and the Calgary Herald. AVA was open to the public and 124 participants attended. The rationale for the event was simple: 'voter apathy' has evolved into the increasingly worrisome situation of declining voter turnout. Voter turnout is in decline at the Federal and Alberta provincial levels. In fact, voter turnout in Alberta provincial elections has been substantially lower than every other province. However, fighting voter apathy requires determining what causes voter apathy. The participants in this event convened to explore various dimensions of voter apathy with a view to identifying the sources of voter apathy and outlining ideas and recommendations to address voter apathy in Canada. The evening began with three presentations, moderated by Mr. Ron Ghitter, and then moved into an Open Spaces discussion, led by Mr. Bob Chartier. YOUNG
LEADERS LUNCHEON -
PORTRAITS 2002 The Canadian Unity Council hosted its third luncheon in the Young Leaders Luncheon Series sponsored by Enbridge and TransAlta. Over 100 participants representing the private, public and not-for-profit sectors attended the 90-minute session at the Westin Hotel launching the Portraits of Canada 2002 paper produced by the Centre for Research and Information on Canada. Crossroads 2002
- A Women's Sharing Circle In 1999 the Canadian Unity Council successfully brought together women from across the country for the inaugural Carrefour/Crossroads. In March 2000 the Council approached a group of Alberta women to seek support and involvement for this important project through Crossroads 2000. The tradition continued with Manitoba hosting the 3rd gathering of women in 2001, to explore many of the important issues facing today's Aboriginal youth in urban settings. The Canadian Unity Council, along with a number of private and public sector sponsors, hosted Crossroads 2002, a conference for sixty influential Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal women in the Edmonton area. Participants shared, learned about, and endeavoured to understand the opportunities and challenges facing Aboriginal youth. Crossroads 2002 created a network of women, able to promote the interests of Aboriginal youth in their individual spheres of influence. The Honourable Ethel Blondin Andrew, Secretary of State (Children and Youth) graciously agreed to be a luncheon key-note speaker.
YOUNG LEADERS LUNCHEON -
"Calgary - Some Assembly Required" Earlier this year, we hosted the second luncheon in the Young Leaders Luncheon series. For a complete report on that luncheon, we invite you to travel further down this page to Young Leaders Luncheon May 13, 2002. We wanted to build on that event by tapping into the strong motivation of young Calgarians to actively engage in our community. We offerred an "Engagement Fair" October 2, organized by the Canadian Unity Council in partnership with the United Way of Calgary and Area. We are grateful to the sponsors of this luncheon series, Jim Dinning of TransAlta Utilities and Byron Neiles of Enbridge Incorporated.
The luncheon featured speakers who presented their personal perspectives on the value of engaging in the community. Guests had a chance to ask about the volunteer experience and pick up good advice on how to best use their volunteer time and efforts. The speakers for the luncheon were: Brian Felesky, 2002 Campaign Chair, United Way of Calgary and Area; Brad Zumwalt, Founder, Social Venture Partners Calgary; Dr. Pat Pitsel, TALKshop! International. BORDERLINES:
CANADA IN NORTH AMERICA (Calgary) Michèle Stanners our Director had the opportunity to take part in a national consultation on the evolving place of Canada in North America, the Borderlines Conference which took place in Calgary September 13 and 14. Michèle was asked to present the "voice of the "West" during the Friday session "Regional Perspectives" where leading analysts from four of Canada's regions - The West Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Region were asked to discuss the regional dimensions of continental integration and how such interests might be addressed. Does the Canada-US relationship have different implications across Canada? Are some regions more likely to benefit from continental integration? Are some regional more venerable to fluctuations in the Canada-US relationship?
For more information visit www.borderlines.ca Related Document:
AEISEC INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 2002 Over 600 Young leaders from 90 different countries were in Calgary from September 1-10, 2002 for AEISEC's International Congress 2002. AEISEC is the largest student organization in the world with over 30,000 members worldwide and operations in over 85 countries and territories. The Council is sponsoring this event, and we are taking every opportunity to make ourselves known to these young leaders. We presented "Canada: Use it or Lose IT!" to two workshop groups during the state of the World Forum. The AEISECers who attended stayed right through the break until they were squeezed out by the next group. This was thanks to the thought provoking presentation put together by Andrew Parkin, Assistant Director CRIC - Research. Related Document
G8 –NOW WHAT? On July 4 2002, the Canadian Unity Council, the Canada West Foundation, the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts, and the Creative City held the G8 –Now What? luncheon, bringing together 169 thoughtful Calgarians from diverse sectors, including corporations, government, community (youth & sports), and non-profit organizations. The topic of discussion was: In a post-G8 Calgary, what are our opportunities and obligations in a globalized world? This luncheon provided a forum for Calgarians to express their opinions and thoughts about the recent G8 Summit held in nearby Kananaskis Country and what it could mean for Calgary’s future. Three lunch presentations were followed by table discussions. Luncheon wrap-up comments were delivered by Dr. Ron Ghitter. The event was sponsored by the Sheldon Chumir Foundation and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
ELLIOT AND BAROOTES
UNITY ESSAY CONTEST Young people in Saskatchewan care enough
about Canadian unity to take part in the annual Elliott and Barootes
Unity Essay Contest for the province’s Grade 10 students.The
Canadian Unity Council organized the jury for the contest, which
is sponsored by IPSCO Inc. The jury picked five winning essays from
the 200 submitted. The winners were announced last month. Presented below are the winning essays.
YOUNG LEADERS LUNCHEON
On Monday, May 13, 2002, over 170 of Calgary's community leaders came together to discuss this questionable notion as well as their role in shaping the city's future. Jackie Flanagan, Publisher and Executive Editor, Alberta Views, and Harvey Weingarten, President & Vice-Chancellor, University of Calgary lead off the discussion.
Participants shared their views on Calgary, its image and its future, and discussed how Calgary can retain its reputation as a magnet for people and business. The event also focused on how Calgarians can continue to build a healthy community while setting itself apart from other urban centers. Jim Dinning, CUC Governor and Executive Vice president, TransAlta and Byron Neiles, Honourary Co-Chair, Leadership Calgary and Director, Public & Government Affairs, Enbridge co-hosted the event and will continue to support the CUC with a series of Young Leaders Luncheons to explore fundamental issues facing Calgary's future. Related Documents
ATTACKING VOTER APATHY Voter turnout figures give cause for alarm. In Calgary's last municipal election, fewer than 35% of eligible citizens voted. The last federal election attracted the smallest voter turn-out since Confederation. We share a concern that the democratic principles upon which our country was built are in peril - simply because of citizen apathy. For that reason, we were pleased to co-host a public forum on the issue on April 18 at the Fort Calgary Barracks Hall. The goal was to get 150 Calgarians to discuss the causes of reduced voter turnout and suggest ways to reverse the trend. The evening began with a brief panel discussion featuring Dr. Donna Dasko, Senior Vice-President of Environics Research Group, John Carpay of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, and Dr. Roger Gibbins of the Canada West Foundation. Panel moderator was Ron Ghitter, a former Canadian Senator.
Following the panel, we asked everyone to share their thoughts and suggest how to challenge Calgarians with a call to action? How we encourage citizen participation? How do we engage young people and encourage them to understand that their rights as citizens depend on tem fulfilling their citizenship obligations, like voting? Thanks to the generous support of the three sponsoring organizations, corporate funders (including AEC and the Calgary Herald), and the Calgary Foundation, we were able to put this event on at no charge to the public and offer participants a light dinner.
For a complete Event Report, click here, or visit the CRIC website.
STÉPHANE DION LUNCHEON On Friday, April 5, 2002, the Hon. Stéphane Dion, Federal Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen's Privy Council, was guest speaker at a luncheon hosted by the Canadian Unity Council, Mr. Jack Agrios and Mr. Jim Edwards.
The Minister discussed a number of issues relating to his current portfolios and invited a candid exchange on issues of interest and importance to Albertans. We limited the number of guests to 25 to ensure a meaningful dialogue.
CALGARIANS PULLING TOGETHER On September 15, the Muslim communities in Calgary (40,000 people) issued a full page statement in The Calgary Herald, which included:
In keeping with the Council's mandate to help Canadians understand the issues that affect the country, the Council moved to open a dialogue between Calgary's Muslim and non-Muslim communities. On December 11th, 2001, 90 days after the tragedy in New York City, and during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, more than 300 Calgary community leaders, representing Muslim and other faith communities met for Iftaar. This is the evening "breaking of the fast" that follows daily fasting during Ramadan. The event was organized by the Canadian Unity Council in conjunction with representatives from The Calgary Herald, Muslims Against Terrorism, United Way, The Calgary Muslim Community, Together for Canada and the Alliance for Capitalizing on Change. Funding for venue and printing costs were generously donated by The Calgary Airport Authority, BMO Harris Private Banking and College Copy Digital Services. Guest Speakers were Noorani (Rani) Murji,
(M. Phil.) and The Very Reverend Robert T. Pynn, Dean Emeritus of
the Anglican diocese of Calgary, as spiritual leaders. However,
the main focus of the event was on the table discussions, which
were facilitated by community Muslim and non-Muslim leaders. In
order to promote discussion and mutual understanding, these focused
on five questions: Why are you here? Why was this event important
enough for you to participate? What meaning does it have for you?
What do you want from it?" and "What challenges or opportunities
to contribute to making a better community do you see arising from
the events of September 11th and all that has happened since?"
RURAL CANADA - MOVING FORWARD OR LEFT BEHIND? On November 22-24, 2001, the Canadian Unity Council and the Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy hosted a conference, Rural Canada: Moving Forward or Left Behind?, in Regina. The conference examined the current challenges facing rural Canada in an increasingly urbanized country and globalized economy. Conference discussion went beyond the myths of rural Canada's past to focus on its current reality from all perspectives -- demographic, social, economic, political, cultural and ecological. More information on this conference is available here.
Crossroads 2000 - A Women's Sharing Circle: Exploring Opportunities
and Challenges Facing Urban Aboriginal Youth. |
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