River Run Rally
September 23 @ 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm
From our community:
We’re organizing a Grassy Narrows River Run contingent from York Keele campus, and an art build the week before, and we would love you to join us!
Art Build
The art build will be September 16 between 1:30PM and 4PM, at the AMPD Building in Keele Campus (specific location TBA). We’ll be silkscreening, blockprinting, and painting beautiful shirts, buttons, placards, and a banner for the march. Click here to register for the York contingent’s art build!
River Run
The River Run itself will be September 23, 12 PM onwards, starting from Grange Park at noon, in downtown Toronto. Family friendly. Rain or shine. The contingent will leave from York University subway station at 10:30am. Click here to sign up to join the York contingent!
The York Contingent Organizing Team includes members from OPIRG York, the York Federation of Students, CUPE 3903, York University School of Global Health, The School of Social Work at York University, Change Course, and Amnesty International York Keele chapter.
Background
For over 60 years, the Grassy Narrows First Nation has been advocating for proper compensation and cleanup after a mercury discharge in the English-Wabigoon River contaminated their waters, health, and livelihoods. The mercury poisoning is ongoing, and could get worse if mining claims on their traditional territories goes forward. Now there is also a threat of nuclear waste being stored close to the community.
A large group of Grassy Narrows youth and community members will be travelling 1,700km to Toronto to demand mercury justice from Ontario and Canada. In the River Run march, the Grassy Narrows community walks in the front and feels all of their allies and supporters at their backs as we weave our way through significant sights of political power in downtown Toronto. This is an opportunity for York students to participate in grassroots activism, and to learn on-the-ground about Indigenous resistance to settler colonialism.
Contact
Contact Zoë Newman, Chairperson, at chairperson@cupe3903.org for more information.