Accreditation for Settlement Counselors
Deadline for submission is 30th of January
If you are interested, please talk to Toyin ASAP for details and coaching on creating portfolio (1on1 or group info session) Get in touch with Toyin by Jan 15
Submitted by Toyin Fatona
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Thank You!
Many thanks for the great posters in the 2nd floor hallway of the 82 Street location done by people in the LINC 2 classes. I have learned a lot about several countries from reading them, but even more about the perspective and the thinking of the people who made them. Very helpful and enjoyable too.
Submitted by Jim Gurnett
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WCI Celebration
These photos are from the 10th anniversary celebration at Welcome Centre for Newcomers in early December
Submitted by Jim Gurnett
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Free Online Income Tax Program
There is a free income tax program on line, called Studio Tax 2009. You are able to do up to 20 free tax returns and then either print and send it in or efile. I have done it for the last two years and had my money in my account within a couple of days.
Submitted by Carole Lambe
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Holiday fun and HIP
Over the week of December 15 I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time at parties and pretending it was work. Congratulations to all the staff and volunteers who did so much work to provide a number of special activities.
Delmy, Greg, Glynnis, and Esperanza, with the support of many others, provided a wonderful evening on Tuesday for tenants of Trinity Manor and The Haven, with the biggest turn-out I've seen for their annual event. Former tenant Frederico was back as a great Mexican Santa to the joy of all. On Saturday Terry, Remy, and Stephanos were assisted by several volunteers on Saturday to present a special afternoon for temporary workers and a great time was had by all, with abundant food and Remy leading a karaoke and dance party (and earning herself a score of 96 on one tune). And of course Thursday was a non-stop day of LINC end-of-session parties and some great entertainment at the 82nd Street location.
What struck me at each of these events was the way EMCN staff were not just putting on a party, but all through the events were connecting in real and important ways with people who were taking part. It was evident to me that even during such a social event the focus of our staff was to build or extend relationships with the people taking part, to ensure they know EMCN is a place where they matter as people and where they will be welcome at any other time, for assistance that might be helpful in their lives.
Such special events take a lot of work to prepare and conduct and I am very thankful to everyone, staff and volunteers, who helped make it possible for us to make this holiday time of year more enjoyable for many people. But even more I am thankful for how, in these special events and in so many other routine day by day ways, the people who work here demonstrate a commitment and concern to the whole people who come to us.
Thank you.
Submitted by Jim Gurnett
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Reducing Poverty
Ontario has become the third Canadian province to make a broad commitment to reduce the evils of poverty (Quebec and Newfoundland already have developed such strategies). This link goes to a news release that has general information about the strategy and provides a link to the full report:
http://ogov.newswire.ca/ontario/GPOE/2008/12/04/c7000.html?lmatch=&lang=_e.html
Submitted by Jim Gurnett
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Dispelling the Myths of Mortgage Insurance.
Some information you might want to share with your friends, family.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2008/02/06/mortgage_insurance_not_always/#comments
Submitted by Ariela Cerna
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Case Processing Centre Vegreville
Hello All,
Our office has been advised by the CPCV (Case Processing Centre Vegreville) that they recently have had an unprecedented number of clients showing up at their door seeking assistance with applications, status updates, etc.
Would everyone please inform staff members, who assist newcomers and immigrants, that the Case Processing Centre is a mail in centre only and is not designated to take walk in clients.
Thanks everyone for your co-operation.
Golda Sharp
Office / Bureau: CIC Edmonton
780-495-2503 | facsimile / télécopieur 780-495-6739 Golda.Sharp@cic.gc.ca Citizenship and Immigration Canada | 9700 Jasper Avenue - Suite 240 | Canada
Place Edmonton Alberta T5J 4C3
Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada | 9700, avenue Jasper - Pièce 240 | Place Canada Edmonton Alberta T5J 4C3 Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
Submitted by Jim Gurnett
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Arts on The Avenue Society: Winter Festival January 2009!
Full details 780.722.3733 / Website: www.artsontheave.org
Deep Freeze: Byzantine Winter Festival, January 10 and 11, 2009 @ The Alberta Ave Community Centre, 9210-118 Avenue, Edmonton.
The Byzantine festival melds the arts/cultural events in a wonderful winter celebration producing a rich collage of colours, flavours and sights guaranteed to brighten any winter day. Some of the outdoor events are an enchanted ice and snow garden, outdoor skating and curling, hay rides, broom ball and snowshoeing, and snow sculpting workshops.
Other activities include art and craft displays, a mummers' play (seasonal folk play) and a variety of musical performances. Of course, much delicious food will also be available, including Ukrainian, Mexican and Salvadoran fare, as well as a cabane à sucre (maple taffy on snow) and hot dogs roasted on an open fire.
Please check website for Saturday/Sunday Schedule of events and foods. Saturday night's fabulous festival centrepiece is a Melt the Deep Freeze! Dance with the irresistible Latin rhythms of Tilo Paiz and America Rosa. Tickets for the dance are only $10 for adults and can be purchased at Tix on the Square (tixonthesquare.ca) or at the Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse, 9351-118 Ave.
Deep Freeze Festival is sponsored by Arts on the Ave Society, Sculptors' Society of Alberta and the Avenue Initiative Revitalization.
Contact: Christy Morin @ 780.722.3733
Visit us online at: www.artsontheave.org
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Your voice heard in Zimbabwe
Dear friends,
To help keep hope alive in Zimbabwe this holiday season, we're running radio ads across Zimbabwe with messages of solidarity from citizens around the world. Click below to put your name to the campaign--or even make an ad of your own!
Take Action Now
REPORT BACK: Last week, 200,000 of us succeeded in shifting Germany's position in the climate negotiations! It's just a partial victory, but a crucial one; click here to learn what happened!
As we approach the holiday season, the people of Zimbabwe need our solidarity and support. For many, this will be their tenth New Year's Eve living in fear, their third without clean water, and their first amidst the spiralling cholera epidemic. So many have died that it is no longer clear what is the population of the country.1
Ultimately, it is the people of Zimbabwe who will bring change. Right now, our friends on the ground say that crushing hardship and isolation are the greatest threat -- that the most powerful contribution we can make is to cry out our solidarity with their struggle, and let them know that they are not alone.
While Mugabe and his generals might control the borders and the newspapers, the airwaves are still free. Sign our global message of solidarity now -- it will be turned into a radio advertisement and broadcast across Zimbabwe in the new year--and then if you choose, write or record your own ad for broadcast using our online tools:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_citizens_for_zimbabwe/?cl=159142090&v=2586
Zimbabwe's people are wracked by a cholera crisis which has already killed over 1000 people.2 Three months after Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangarai signed a power-sharing agreement, Mugabe's still clings to power, even denying there is an epidemic.3 And as the regime cracks down, with increasing numbers of journalists, human rights defenders and ordinary people being abducted this week4, the prospect of a unity government seems more remote than ever. The Zimbabweans who risked their lives to vote against Mugabe in March this year are exhausted, hungry and terrorised by violence.
We have campaigned throughout the year on different levels with a range of targets, tactics and strategies, but Zimbabwe will only change if, amongst the dread and fear, Zimbabweans themselves believe they have the power to overcome hopelessness and lawlessness.
With our radio-broadcast messages of international solidarity, let's let them know our eyes are on Zimbabwe and send them hope and strength to carry on strong into 2009. Our voices aim to uplift Zimbabwean people who have lost their hope or loved ones, helping a people who are desperate for democracy and ravaged by hunger and disease. These messages will be heard by hundreds of thousands across Zimbabwe and the region: sign our collective message here, then leave your personal message:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_citizens_for_zimbabwe/?cl=159142090&v=2586
It is up to us to get our messages of support to the people of Zimbabwe. As citizens of the world, our only interest in ending the Mugabe era is that which led us to struggle in our own lands for political freedoms, and which brought many of us to stand with the South African people in the anti-apartheid struggle: a common humanity, a duty to fight repression and a commitment to the universality of rights. Let the Zimbabwean people know we stand with them:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_citizens_for_zimbabwe/?cl=159142090&v=2586
In hope and solidarity,
Ben, Ricken, Alice, Brett, Pascal, Paul, Graziela, Paula, Luis, Iain and the whole Avaaz team
SOURCES
1John Hughes, Christian Science Monitor: "To save Zimbabwe, South Africa must step up"
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1219/p09s01-coop.html
2 AFP -- Zimbabwe Cholera Death Toll Passes 1,000: UN http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gdniYYQ_ejuYgNUVGcw4e1QLzDwQ
AllAfrica.com: Cholera Outbreak Blamed On Mugabe Sanitation Policy http://allafrica.com/stories/200812150182.html
3 Al-Jazeera: "Mugabe - Cholera Crisis is Over"
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/12/20081211121636410799.html
4Activists go missing in Zimbabwe crackdown http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-zimbabwe15-2008dec15,0,381855.story
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5337674.ece
P.S. For a report on Avaaz's campaigning so far, see: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2
Submitted by Miranda Bestman
