Please circulate

SHOUT OUT FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE!
Massey Hall event will bring together thousands to challenge the G20 agenda=
  in Toronto and across Canada

The Council of Canadians will be putting the issues of global trade and eco=
nomic justice in the spotlight Friday, June 25 at a major public forum call=
ed Shout Out for Global Justice! The event will bring together thousands of=
  people to talk about our global future and will feature world-renowned spe=
akers Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow, Bolivian Ambassador Pa=
blo Solon, writer Naomi Klein, union leader Leo Gerard, physicist Vandana S=
hiva, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, War on Want Executive Director John =
Hilary, Indigenous activist Clayton Thomas-Muller and many others. Tickets =
are going fast, so get yours today by contacting the Box Office at 416-872-=
4255 or visiting the Massey Hall website at www.masseyhall.com.

After the University of Toronto decided last week to shut down its St. Geor=
ge campus, including Convocation Hall where Shout Out for Global Justice! w=
as set to take place, the Council was forced to find a new location for thi=
s high-profile event. We were thrilled to learn that historic Massey Hall w=
as available, located just blocks from the established security zone for th=
e G20 summit allowing our voices to =93Shout Out=94 even closer to the sequ=
estered leaders.

All the details are now in place and the Council=92s exciting Shout Out for=
  Global Justice! will go on at  Massey Hall, located at 178 Victoria Street=
  in Toronto, Ontario. The evening starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for non-=
Council of Canadians members (and include a one-year membership) and $14 fo=
r Council of Canadians members. Make sure you get your tickets today!

The event will also be video streamed live on the internet with the support=
  of rabble.ca. Many Council chapters across the country are organizing comm=
unity events with local speakers and panels as part a cross-Canada =93Shout=
  Out.=94 For more information, call us at 1-800-387-7177 ext. 239 or visit =
our website for all the latest updates.
=09
The following day, on Saturday, June 26, the Council will join thousands on=
  the streets for =93People First,=94 a peaceful rally starting at Queens Pa=
rk in Toronto. The march will go to the summit=92s security perimeter and i=
s aimed at telling G20 leaders they do not legitimately represent and speak=
  for the billions of people they affect with their decisions. We are callin=
g on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to support scrapping these boondoggle su=
mmits and place decision-making in a more democratic forum, such as the Uni=
ted Nations, also referred to as the G192.

Costs for both the G8 and the G20 summits have soared to more than $1 billi=
on. Over the three days of planned meetings, this means about $75 million w=
ill be spent every hour leaders meet on security and logistics =96 money th=
at is desperately needed for the high priority agenda items that will be ta=
lked about at the summits including maternal health, access to clean water =
and sanitation and urgent action on climate change.

As part of the estimated $900 million security measures that include kilome=
tres of steel fences and barricades, hundreds of video cameras and thousand=
s of armed personnel, Toronto police have announced that they have purchase=
d four sound cannons =96 or long-range acoustic devices =96 to =93communica=
te=94 with crowds during the G20 rallies. The devices can cause extreme pai=
n and are only partially directional. Because of safety concerns, the RCMP =
do not use sound cannons. On May 27, the Council of Canadians announced we =
will give away free earplugs to help people reduce pain and discomfort that=
  may result from the sound cannons.
Take action!

With a billion dollar-plus price tag, infringements of basic civil libertie=
s, massive disruptions for those who live in Toronto, and a =93business as =
usual=94 agenda that serves neither people nor the planet, the Council of C=
anadians is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to scrap the upcoming =
G8 and G20 summits.

As Canadians already know, the prime minister must now also acknowledge tha=
t a billion dollars could be better spent on any number of urgent internati=
onal priorities, such as providing access to clean drinking water worldwide=
.

Given the overall costs, and the 16 hours of formal and informal meetings t=
hat are planned, the bill comes in at about $75 million per hour for these =
summits. In that a child dies every 8 seconds from drinking dirty water, du=
ring the G8/G20 weekend, 21,600 children will die because they have been de=
nied the fundamental human right to clean water. The billion dollars being =
spent on the summits would save those children and millions more.

The place for national leaders to meet isn=92t behind barbed wire fences in=
  small groups of eight or twenty, but rather in the General Assembly at the=
  United Nations. That's what the United Nations was created for, and it has=
  the buildings, infrastructure and appropriate security in place for gather=
ings of world leaders.

It is also our belief that these G-192 meetings should also include a true =
dialogue with broader civil society. The narrower corporate interests shoul=
d not have the kind of exclusive privileged access that they now enjoy.

Write Prime Minister Stephen Harper, your Member of Parliament, your local =
newspaper, and say that it=92s time to =93scrap the summits!=94

For all the latest updates on our Shout Out for Global Justice! event and r=
elated G8 and G20 activities go to:

www.canadians.org/g20.

To leave, manage or join list: https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=sdoh&A=1