Hello friends,

"Wake-up Calls" involving many types of activities are being planned in
communities across Canada to occur at 12:00 noon local time, Wednesday
November 24th, 1999. This will coincide with the public launch of national
and provincial child poverty report cards. YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE!!

As many of you already know, November 24th marks the tenth anniversary of
the House of Commons commitment to end child poverty by the year 2000. But
child poverty is deepening and affecting even greater numbers of families
as the gap between rich and poor Canadians widens.

Below is a description of WAKE-UP CALL EVENTS. If you are interested,
please join our mail server. To subscribe,

                Send an email message to [log in to unmask]
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                In the text of the message type: subscribe wake-up-call-l
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We can provide you with ideas, information packages, promotional posters,
and conenctions through the mail server. TELL YOUR FRIENDS!! WE ESPECIALLY
NEED MORE CONNECTIONS AND EVENTS IN SASKATCHEWAN, ALBERTA, THE
YUKON, NWT,AND NUNAVIT.

Please feel free to contact me. My info is as follows:

                Cari Patterson
                E-mail: [log in to unmask]
                Phone: (902) 582-7839
                Fax: (902) 582-7144

___________________________________________________________________
Wake-up call events will take place at 12 noon local time to coincide with
workplace/school lunch breaks in each of Canada's 6 time zones:

  1st call of the day begins in Newfoundland at 12 noon Newfoundland
time.
  2nd call of the day begins in Prince Edward Island/Nova Scotia/New
Brunswick at 12 noon Atlantic time
  3rd call of the day begins in Quebec/Ontario at 12 noon Eastern
time
  4th call of the day begins in Manitoba/Saskatchewan/Nunavit at 12 noon
Central time
  5th call of the day begins in Alberta/Nunavit/NWT at 12 noon Mountain time
  6th and last call of the day begins in British Columbia and the Yukon at
12 noon Pacific time

Local communities/organizations are deciding on their own type of action.
List of ideas to date include:

  The ringing of church bells for 10, 20, 30 minutes. Tolling bells - as
well as broadcast hymns (many churches seem to use recordings now).
  The sounding of firehall and fire engine sirens.  In rural communities
fire fighters can be persuaded to take to the streets with their
fire-engines sirens - ending up at community gatherings.
  Marching bands on our streets, sole pipers leading a march
  Blowing of whistles by preschool children/school children.
  Children in school yards making noise - yelling a message in unison
  School/children's choirs singing. Instruments could be distributed to
other children for a noisy finale.
  Families at family resource centres, city/town/village centres with
noise makers - babies with rattles, toddlers with wrist bell,
preschoolers with tambourines, etc.
  Activists at intersections - placards reading "HONK IF YOU WANT CHILD
POVERTY TO END"

Organizers are underscoring the need to:

  Emphasize who the bells are tolling for - hungry children/mothers/families
  Focus on the 10th anniversary of a broken promise - 24th November, 1989
was the day of the resolution to end child poverty.
  Underscore the need for a big noise to wake those government memb1ers who
are sleeping on the job!
  Tie activities to 12 noon local time - allowing participation by
workers/schools during the lunch hour break
  Call a broad range of community members to action - workers, leaders of
faith communities, school children, teachers, principals, staff and
volunteers of non-profit organizations, children and their extended families.
  Invite church and other community leaders to speak at "WAKE-UP CALL"
rallies.
  Involve high school councils and students.
  Getting a common statement for everyone to endorse wherever they are
participating in a "WAKE-UP" action.
  Connecting local communities to the CAMPAIGN 2000 lobbying planned on
the hill for the day of November24th and adding volume to the call for
action.
  Equating our action with the bells in the house of commons calling the
house to order.
  Collecting all the planned actions on a web-site as they materialize in
local communities.
  Encouraging people to share all ideas with others.
  Spreading news of different types of "WAKE-UP" actions arising from the
choice of various communities so that others can "copy" ideas attractive
to their own community.
  Acknowledging that each noise - no matter how small - adds to the
overall volume.


Let's really use our collective voice!! The more of us involved, better!!

  ******************************************************************
   Where a great proportion of the people are suffered to languish
        in helpless misery,
   That country must be ill-policed and wretchedly governed:
   A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.

   -- Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1770
  ******************************************************************

Dennis Raphael, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Associate Director,
Masters of Health Science Program in Health Promotion
Department of Public Health Sciences
Graduate Department of Community Health
University of Toronto
McMurrich Building, Room 101
Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5S 1A8
voice:    (416) 978-7567
fax: (416) 978-2087
e-mail:   [log in to unmask]