I have put up several pages of information to help people get involved in the activist scene in Edmonton. Check out the menu above to see a current list of resources and information (it is a work in progress).
The idea of the Activist Agenda is to be a central hub of information to help people access that information so that they can become involved. It is focused on activism and community in Edmonton and area.

Issues presently posted on this website. Easy access to groups and information to get involved – getting active (with more to come):

• Animal Rights/Welfare/Diet
• Climate Change
• Environment – General
• Food
• Media
• Peace
• Racism
• Social Justice
• Transportation/Mobility
• Waste/Littering/Plastic Pollution

Video of the Week

This is an American list but many of the days transfer to Canada. From earthlyeducation

🌊 National Oceans Month – June (US)
🐝 National Pollinators Month – June (US)
🏞️ National Rivers Month – June (US)
🌹 National Rose Month – June (US)

June 2023 is Bike Month in Edmonton – Bike Edmonton is hosting several events throughout the city. The City of Edmonton also has a list of events on its webpage.

• June 1-30: In celebration of Bike Month, the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues is hosting a friendly competition between community leagues. They will record the number of kilometres each community member cycles and there are rewards. Find out how to register at their website. You can still contribute your distances to your community league.
• June 23-26: Canadian Road Cycling Championships
• June 25: Do North Events | Edmonton Urban Fondo

June is Pride Month in Edmonton. It seems that there is still problems facing Pride Edmonton and there won’t be a parade this year. There is going to be a festival on August 18-26th – see Edmonton Pride Festival. That being said there are going to be some events throughout the month. See below.

June 27th, Tuesday Jann Arden and her Adventures in Animal Activism from 7 – 8:15 pm ET – event hosted by ANIMAL JUSTICE ACADEMY. This is a Q&A with the multi-platinum singer/songwriter, actor, & author. “Jann Arden is a Canadian icon… She’s an award-winning singer/songwriter, she’s had her own hit TV series on CTV, and in the last few years she’s started to bring her huge heart, talent, and audience to animal rights.”
Location: Virtual – note that it is ET (Eastern Time)
Register: Animal Justice Academy website
Cost: Free

June 27th, Tuesday Canadian Multiculturalism Day – “honours the many cultural communities that help build a strong and vibrant Canadian society. Take this opportunity to celebrate the cultural diversity that enriches us collectively and reaffirm your commitment to equity, inclusion, and mutual respect.” from this site.

June 28th, Wednesday Canada is Burning Day of Action – Climate Justice Edmonton is collaborating with 350.org on this day of action. Details will be announced through their social media pages – Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

June 28th, Wednesday Canada is Burning Day of Action in Edmonton – “Join Climate Justice Edmonton and friends at MP Randy Boissonnault’s office to demand that the liberal government takes action to end fossil fuel subsidies and implement a just transition. Together, we can bring the intensity of the climate crisis to the government’s doorstep.”
Time: 4 pm
Location: MP Randy Boissonnault’s office, 10235 – 124 Street NW

July 1st Edmonton’s Single-Use Item Reduction Bylaw – this has been a long time in the making and many of us have been waiting for this bylaw. BIG shout-out to Waste Free Edmonton for pushing this for several years. It is not perfect but is a good step in the right direction – a reduction of single-use disposable items. A win for the environment.
Check out the Activist Agenda page on Waste/Littering/Plastic Pollution

July 1st, Saturday Edmonton Queer History Project (EQHP) Walking Tour – Edmonton’s Lesbian History – “From Womonspace dances to bookstores and bars, Edmonton has a vibrant, diverse, and longstanding lesbian community, which was at the forefront of community building and activism. Come out and learn more about this important lesbian herstory!”
EQHP website.
Location: Audreys Books Ltd 10702 Jasper Avenue
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Register: Eventbrite
Cost: Free

July 3rd, Monday Farm Animal Rescue & Rehoming Movement (FARRM) Tour – “Come visit FARRM and learn about each resident’s story. It’s a unique experience to connect with our crew and learn about the work we do.”
Location: just outside Wetaskiwin. Exact detail on registration
Register: Facebook
Cost: 21.99$ children under 12 are free

July 4th, Tuesday Loblaws Broken Promises Protest – “Loblaws promised to no longer sell Caged Birds Eggs on any of their shelves. They have since gone back on that promise and have not yet given a date when this would happen.”
Location: see Facebook

July 8th, Saturday What’s Next: Post-Election Community Summit from 10:00 am to 5 pm – Public Interest Alberta is putting on this event. “Whether you were working on a local election, put your name forward as a candidate, or cast a ballot, I know it’s been an intense election for everyone. Thank you for everything you did over the past weeks and months to make sure the public interest was on the radar in the election.
It’s clear this is not the outcome many of us were hoping for. Yet again, we’re facing a government whose regressive agenda of cuts, privatization, and chaos has made our lives worse.”
So, what’s next? What do we do now? 
Location: McDougall United Church, 10086 MacDonald Drive NW
Register: at this Public Interest Alberta website

July 8th, Saturday Calgary Stampede Protest – “We will once again join forces with Calgary and hit the sidewalks with our signs and megaphones! We will be protesting the events that are harming the animals at the Stampede. Go ahead and enjoy the rest of the event, but leave the damn animals alone.
Animals are not ours to use for entertainment. And we will tell them so.
Join us. If you need a ride please let us know in the discussion. or send me a message.” – Edmonton Animal Save
Location: Calgary Stampede – sign-up to get details of exact location

July 9th, Sunday We The Free (WTF) Diamond – “Join We The Free and the Edmonton Animal Rights community in exposing standard industry practices of the animal agriculture industry to the public. This event will be taking place during the Edmonton Street Performers Festival so it’s a great opportunity for heavy foot traffic.”
Location: Sir Winston Churchill Square 100th Street and 102a Avenue (exact location provided when you join the group and action)
URL: Facebook

July 12th to August 23rd Workshop: Liberatory Methods for Investigating and Generating Non-Capitalist / Anti-Colonial Social Power – “This workshop will be provided by El Cambalache from its Department of Decolonial Economics.
El Cambalache is a moneyless economy project located in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas and is made by and for women and everyone who we know. In El Cambalache everything has the same value. Here people exchange things they no longer need for things, skills, knowledge and mutual help that people want to share. El Cambalache was founded in 2015 and is based on anti-systemic and anti-capitalist values for
local social movements.”
Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM (CST)
Location: Virtual – online
For more information see our documentary: Inter-Change Value (2016) https://vimeo.com/159060233

July 15th, Saturday Farm Animal Rescue & Rehoming Movement (FARRM) Tour – “Come visit FARRM and learn about each resident’s story. It’s a unique experience to connect with our crew and learn about the work we do.”
Location: just outside Wetaskiwin. Exact detail on registration
Register: Facebook
Cost: 21.99$ children under 12 are free

Political Survey

I am sure that most of you know we had an election just over a month ago. Out of curiosity, I did the Vote Compass assessment.
The company behind the Vote Compass (Vox Pop Labs) is doing a follow up survey. They say it takes between 15 to 20 minutes.
Here is the link if you are interested.

Information and Suggestions

If you are interested in municipal politics then I suggest checking out the “Speaking Municipally” podcast made by Mack Male and Troy Pavlek. They really keep an eye on our city council. Mack Male is also part of the team that produces Taproot which is a great source for what is happening municipally.

If you are Facebook, check out the Edmonton Activist Calendar page.

Please share information with me so that I can populate this with more details and information. I intend to eventually get it so that it is emailed out to people and have a better site but for now, this is what I have to offer you.

Smoke filters and improved indoor air quality – Smoke inhalation is very bad for our health. You might want to build one or more of these filters for your home or office. They cost about 60-100$ to build (it depends on where you buy your filters and fans from and you have to make sure that they are MERV-13 rated – or better). I have built several of them over the years and they work well and are easy to put together. Pay attention to airflow with the orientation of your filters and fan.

Edmonton Tool Library – a great resource for sharing tools and resources within our community. Check them out. They are also looking for volunteers to join their team.

Investing in Solar?
Solar Power Investment Cooperative of Edmonton (SPICE) makes this easy at the grassroots and organic levels. Check out how you can invest in solar installations. Solar is a climate solution and when combined with demand-side management can have a significant impact.

Petitions/Letter writing – petitions can be an effective way to raise awareness of an issue and sometimes they even work. Here is a list of present ongoing petitions in Canada that I wish to highlight:

• 8 coal mining projects threaten the Rocky Mountains. If approved, open-pit mining will contaminate the source of water for millions of people across the Prairies. Click here to send a letter.
• Tax the Rich petition. A small increase in taxation of the rich (a wealth tax) could go far to address the shortfall we are facing in government revenue AND be earmarked for healthcare and climate change action. This could be ten of billions of dollars in Canada.
• Stop Canada’s Federal Ag Gag Bill – There’s a dangerous agricultural gag bill (also known as “ag-gag”) in Parliament that could jail undercover investigators and other animal advocates who expose animal cruelty behind the closed doors of farms.
• Let’s Get Indigenous Communities Safe, Clean Drinking Water Now. FFS.
• Designate Rapid Support Forces (Janjaweed) in Sudan as a Terrorist Organization – you might remember the documentary “The Devil Came on Horseback” (this is only a short video but you can see more on the internet. Last week I stood with a group of Sudanese calling for an end to the conflict in Darfur.
• Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty – Federal petition open until July 14th, 2023
• Plant Based Treaty – this portal will help you send a letter to your city councillors
• Ban on advertising – a comprehensive ban on advertising, sponsorship, and promotion of fossil fuel companies, products, and services (including gasoline, gas utilities, and internal combustion engine vehicles) to protect public health – Federal petition (e-4469). Open until September 28th, 2023
• End all fossil fuel subsidies – Federal petition open until July 27th, 2023
• stop open-pit gold mining in Nova Scotia and across Canada – Federal petition open until August 3rd, 2023
• Drug use and Harm Reduction – Federal Petition open until July 14th, 2023
• Old Growth – Federal Petition open until June 27th, 2023
• Tell These Airlines to Stop Shipping Endangered Monkeys to Their Deaths
• Make Mental Health Accessible To All Canadian’s Through Our Universal Health Care System
• Call Upon John Horgan to Check Every Indian Residential School in British Columbia – I think this should be a Federal petition since this jurisdiction falls under their mandate but it is a good start.
• No raises for public servants until the minimum wage is a living wage! – every segment of the workforce will tend to stand up for what they will benefit from taking action. We need a living wage/universal basic income right across our country.
• STOP BIG OIL FROM POLLUTING OUR CLIMATE –
• Tax Big Oil to Fund a Just Transition – Canada’s oil and gas sector tripled its profits in 2022. Our governments give Big Oil subsidies and allow them to make trillions of dollars in profit while they drive the climate crisis.
• WORKERS NEED A FAIR DEAL AS THEY BUILD OUR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE – TELL THE GOVERNMENT NOW
• Sink the fossil fuel industry’s plan!
• Email Trans Mountain’s insurers: Drop the pipeline now!
• Reject forest biomass as a false climate solution
• Stop toxic tailings pollution
• Stop Executions of Activists in Iran
• RESPECT INDIGENOUS RIGHTS ON WET’SUWET’EN TERRITORY

Volunteering

VegFest 2023 – VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED for VegFest 2023 on June 24th!
If you are able to help out on Saturday, June 24th, anywhere from 11 am – 7 pm, please sign up at this link.
We need our community to come together and help us pull this off! There are some very dedicated people working their butts off, so let’s help them out by picking up a shift. Let’s come together and show the City of Edmonton just how awesome our Vegan Community really is!

Casino Volunteering – most charities, non-profit groups (NGOs), and other organizations conduct casinos to help them out with their funding. I recently read this in a newsletter: “It was calculated that each volunteer hour generated $640 in funding to Argyll”. (This is a sizeable amount of money – I used to say that each volunteer shift provided the NGO with about 2,000$. Great return on time for the volunteer’s time.)
What can you legally do that could bring in this kind of funds for a group that you support or what to see stay solvent?
Your community league, your child’s school/kindergarten, your church, community league, etc are always looking for volunteers. The local environmental group, the groups that feed people on the streets, etc also need your participation in casinos (if they do them).

Paths for People are looking for new board members. Please complete this document for consideration.

Employment

• COMMUNITY EVENTS & PROGRAMS COORDINATOR – Ritchie Community League. Closes June 23rd, 2023

Please send things that should be on this list to michael.kalmanovitch@gmail.com

Disclaimer – the Activist Agenda tries to ensure that the information contained within it is accurate but mistakes do happen. Please double-check events and information that are relevant to you to make sure you have the correct date, time, location, and any other relevant information.

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