Watch for our special Voice Edition next week celebrating this great day for John and our Club
What You Missed, June 18, 2021
By Chris Snyder, Founder of HIP
(Honouring Indigenous People)
In keeping with our club’s tradition of recognizing National Indigenous Peoples Day, Tanya Talaga, an outstanding Anishinaabe author and journalist with the Globe and Mail delivered a powerful message to those in attendance on Friday, June 18.
She started by thanking Steve Smith, chair of the Indigenous Service Committee, who had delivered a tobacco offering to her home the day before.
Her story of an Indigenous man whose son had recently taken his own life after a hospital rejected him because they viewed him as a security risk, rather than treating him medically, was an example of ongoing racism, illustrating that the Indigenous community continues to live under the knee of the system. To me this was the most powerful part of her talk.
This ongoing treatment of Indigenous Peoples is also illustrated in Tanya’s book, Seven Fallen Feathers, about the deaths of seven young Indigenous People in Thunder Bay and the questionable and incomplete handling of their deaths by the Thunder Bay police. Nine cases were reopened and reinvestigated by a multidisciplinary task force because the OIPRD said they weren’t properly investigated by the Thunder Bay Police. Of the nine, four cases are of the Seven Fallen Feathers.
Tanya also questioned why Marathon, a community of 2,000 non-indigenous people, could get a secondary school and hospital while larger Indigenous communities could not.
She reminded us of Martin Luther King and his two Americas speech: the good America with all of the attributes of a great society and the other America of slums, violence and children lacking opportunities and growing up with a feeling of inferiority. The result: difficulty getting employment and incarceration. This, she said, in part is Canada today and she called on all Canadians to support Indigenous People.
In thanking Tanya, President John told her, “We are here to help in whatever way we can.” Our Indigenous Service Committee and the national organization HIP (Honouring Indigenous Peoples), which grew out of our club and whose focus is education, awareness and building relationships, are both well positioned to answer Tanya’s call and work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.
A donation in recognition of Tanya’s talk was given to Toronto Council Fire.
Miigwetch Tanya for your message and your reminder we need to know the truth before we can have reconciliation.
St. Vincent Volcano Relief
Rotarians doing good work!
We sent $10,000 from our club last month. We have collected an additional $14,200 from Rotarians and other clubs and one club sent $2,000 direct.
St. Vincent and St. Vincent South clubs continue their major sweat equity. Residents of the red zone will be required to resettle elsewhere and the Rotary teams are on the ground.
Much work remains.
The Revamped RCT Program Committee
As the Club continues its re-alignment, we wanted to share a bit about you from the Program Committee. What do we do, and where are we going?
First, our primary goal remains to provide programs and speakers for each meeting. In so doing, the committee hopes to search out speakers that inform, educate and entertain. We look for experts in their field, those with a view on current events, and can disseminate thought-provoking topics in an engaging manner. We don’t shy away from controversial topics, and seek a balance between business, philanthropy, politics, history, Club activities and general interest. And yes – the occasional meeting that is meant purely for entertainment and fellowship. We consider every RCT member a “friend” of the Program Committee: all suggestions for speakers are welcome.
New this year, our committee now supports the logistics of running the meetings (in person or virtual), as well as maintaining the overall meetings budgets with an aim to cost-neutral budgeting for the Club. In prior years this entailed the lunch ticket program, location costs, audio-visual technology; today that also incorporates online platforms. Our goal here is to continue to make the meetings as accessible for all members as possible, as well as using new platforms to reach out to the community at large. Coordinating with the new Marketing Committee, we see our Programs as a prime vehicle for increasing membership.
Are you interested in helping? We have a dedicated cadre of committee members that tirelessly research and approach speakers – many serving in this capacity for years. With our expanded mandate, we are looking for individuals to help with technology, budgeting and content research & writing to feed into our website and marketing for major speakers. WE NEED YOU. If you’re interested, please contact either of us.
My name is Joseph Tubbs, and I was born from two parents from Jamaica. I was born here in Toronto Ontario and grew up in Mississauga Ontario. At the age of 3 I was attracted to sports, and played organized soccer from the age of 3-12, before switching to Basketball. I became a high school all-star at Father Michael Goetz Secondary school, was awarded Most Valuable player 3 different annual years, which gave me the confidence to pursue my basketball career and education at a higher level.
I got a basketball scholarship to Thompson Rivers University, in Kamloops British Columbia, where I played basketball for two years, while studying the Bachelor of Tourism Management.
In between time I coached the Father Michael Goetz high school boys to a high school ROPSSAA championship which granted them an opportunity to OFFSSA where they won an Ontario high school basketball championship.
The following year I was recruited to play basketball for Algoma university where I played and graduated From the Sociology Bachelor of Arts program. During studying at Algoma University, I worked as a Youth Support Worker with high risk youth ages 6-17, in the city of sault Ste. Maire.
In 2017 I moved to Toronto where I went to the Ontario of College of Trades, where I studied Construction Craft Worker 1 & 2, before receiving my Ontario Red Seal in the Trades.
Currently I work in the high-rise sector of Construction Building Highrise Condominiums in Toronto and GTA.
Joseph Joined Rotary in 2015 in the Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie district 6290, where he served for numerous years before transferring to his new home The Rotary Club of Toronto where he serves presently on the scholarship Committee and Membership Engagement Committee.
District Conference -
Last Chance!
830-noon, Celebration of Rotary Heroes & Champions - the exciting "Not to be missed" online portion of the weekend. Register by clicking here - only $10, all going to The Rotary Foundation. We will feature an engaging lineup of keynote speakers.
The afternoon will be community-supporting activities.
On Friday, June 25 at 8:00 pm Recognition will be given to work to help ShelterBox - our club has donated $12,000.
Fellowship & Entertainment Activities
Wednesday, June 30, 5:30 pm
Join us for an RI Convention wrapup. Send pictures of any Convention to maureen.bird@rotarytoronto.com
for a slide show. Watch for invite.
Wednesday, June 30, 7:00 pm
Join outgoing District Governor Mark Chipman for a district wrapup. It has been an interesting year!
Rotarians doing good work!
