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CERLAC/CRS Book Launch: Canada-Chile Solidarity 1973-1990: Testimonies of Civil Society Action

October 24, 2023

2:00 - 3:30pm

In person: 626 Kaneff Tower

This is a free, hybrid event, but registration is required. If attending in person, please register on Eventbrite by getting a free ticket as space is limited for in person attendees.

If you would like to attend virtually, please register in advance for this Zoom meeting:

https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0sdOCqrzsuHdBL4sX15nEufkkAJvuiFJbW

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. There is no limit for virtual attendees.

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The stories and documents presented in this book relate key facets of the history of Canadian civil society solidarity with Chile after the September 1973 military coup d’état. It is a history that speaks to the importance of well-organized and coordinated civic action in the formulation of public policy, especially with regard to refugees and dealing with dictatorships; it also speaks to the significance of refugee and exile community contributions to Canadian society. In addition to retrospective interpretations by activists, through the documents that are reproduced here, we hear the voices of the churches, unions, and civic organizations as they worked to ensure justice and debated with government officials and corporate leaders about the directions that Canadian policy toward Chile and Latin America should take.

Co-sponsored with the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC)

With:

Liisa North, York University - Joan Simalchik, University of Toronto - Veronica Schild, University of Western Ontario - Magdalena Ugarte, Toronto Metropolitan University - Rachel Warden, KAIROS - Patricio Bascuñán, Casa Salvador Allende

Moderator: Alan B. Simmons, York University

Bios:

Patricio Bascuñán heads the Casa Salvador Allende-Toronto (CASAT). He holds a Teaching Degree in History and Geography from the University of Chile and taught in various public schools in poor communities as well as in private schools in elite districts of Santiago. Although his aspirations to advance his higher education at the Pedogotical Institute of the University of Chile were cut short by the coup, he later completed a Master of Arts degree at the University of Toronto.

Liisa L. North, Professor Emerita of Politics at York University. She is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous books, book chapters, and journal articles on party politics, civil-military relations, political-economic development, and mining conflicts in various South American countries; on the civil wars, UN peacekeeping missions, and human rights in El Salvador and Guatemala; and on Canadian-Latin American relations. She assisted Chilean students and faculty members with their integration into Canadian universities following the 1973 coup and supports various civic organizations dedicated to advancing social justice.

Verónica Schild, born and raised in Chile, is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario. She was Research Fellow of the Berlin-based project DesiguALdades.net (2010-2015), of the Grupo de Trabajo “Feminismos, resistencias y procesos emancipatorios” of CLACSO (2016-2019), and is Associate Researcher of DesDeh (Desigualdades y Derechos Humanos) Núcleo Interdisciplinario de Excelencia, Universidad Austral de Chile. Most recently, she has held various Visiting Professor positions at Chilean universities under the modality of Científica de Exelencia del Extranjero, Proyecto Conicyt-MEC, and also in the graduate program of the Lateinamerika Institut, Freie Universität Berlin.

Joan Simalchik, Professor Emerita of Historical Studies, University of Toronto Mississauga, was the director of the interdisciplinary Women and Gender Studies Program. The founding director of the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, she maintains active relations with Chile’s Museum of Memory and Human Rights and the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights, among many other institutions that deal with the history of human rights abuses and atrocities. She is also the recipient of numerous honours for her work in the defense of human rights, including for her contributions as coordinator of Toronto Action for Chile (TACH), awarded by the restored democratic government of Chile.

Magdalena Ugarte is an Assistant Professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Her work examines the relationship between planning, settler colonialism, and other forms of institutionalized dispossession. Since 2014, she has worked with Mapuche partners in Chile regarding questions of Mapuche planning, law, and territorial reconstruction. Her doctoral research about the implementation of the duty to consult with Indigenous peoples in Chile received the Barclay Gibbs Jones Award for Best Dissertation in Planning of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. She has also worked in government settings in Chile and Canada.

Date

Oct 24 2023
Expired!

Time

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Location

626 Kaneff Tower
4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON
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