Centre for Studies in Social Justice

Symposium to consider rights of workers

The nature of employment is evolving, says the Law Commission of Ontario in its December 2012 report on vulnerable workers and precarious work.

“The standard employment relationship based on full-time, continuous employment, where the worker has access to good wages and benefits, is no longer the predominant form of employment, to the extent it ever was,” the report says. “Today more work is precarious, with less job security, few if any benefits and minimal control over working conditions.”

Forum inspires grade school students to promote social justice

A forum to promote social justice has given them ideas to bring back to their home school, say Laith Al-Kinani and Eva Yeverovich, grade eight students from Giles Campus French Immersion Public School.

“Today’s youth can be oblivious to social injustice,” Al-Kinani said Thursday, at the conclusion of the forum held in the Odette Building. “I think this forum is a really great idea.”

Nominations open for Social Justice Project of the Year Award

The Centre for Studies in Social Justice invites nominations for its Social Justice Project of the Year Award. This year the centre wishes to honour a student group. Eligible nominees include student groups whose projects have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the rights of the marginalized or oppressed, the health of people and the environment, or the well-being of animals.

Nominations should include:

Author to show Canadian history through eyes of social activists

Canadians usually learn about their history from the perspective of rulers—from the top down. Author Scott Neigh aims to explore the perspectives of ordinary people—from the bottom up.

“Whatever liberty and justice that communities, workplaces and individuals in Canada enjoy are due to the many struggles and social movements in our country’s history,” says Neigh. “Yet the stories and histories of those movements to overcome racism, sexism, and poverty, for example, remain largely untold, thanks to the single, simplistic national story taught to us in school.”