Sessions from 2022

Marie Moyer

Thursday, December 15, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

For nearly 60 years, L’Arche has transformed the lives of people with and without intellectual disabilities around the world. Beginning in France in 1964, at a time when countless people with disabilities in the Western Hemisphere still languished in institutions, separated from their families and cast off from society, L’Arche founders dared to proclaim that people with developmental disabilities had essential gifts to contribute to society. Since then, across Canada and around the world, L’Arche has been creating communities of friendship and belonging, inviting people both with and without intellectual disabilities to live, work, learn, and grow together in homes, day programs and social enterprises.

Amy von Heyking

Thursday, December 8, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization, Dining Room, 500-11 Street S, Lethbridge

Our official K-12 school curriculum embodies the state’s answer to the question: What must children learn so they can function appropriately as adults in our society? Answering this question is always complicated because it is an expression of what we, as a society, value. The past decade, however, has seen public and professional discussion around curriculum reform descend into ideologically-driven, partisan conflict in Alberta. This talk will address what makes curriculum development complex and how and why the process has become so contentious in the past decade.

Maria Fitzpatrick

Thursday, November 24, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

The speaker will discuss the importance of having this conversation now, while sharing some of her own experience. She will identify some of the statistics (reported cases, non-reported cases, hospitalizations, deaths, affected children) and what research shows would be a huge step to stop domestic violence before it starts – looking at Mental Health and resilience, stable and positive parenting. The speaker will review what warning signs indicate a possible abusive relationship; why someone being victimized by domestic violence finds it difficult or impossible to leave, and what you can do to be part of the solution.

Alona Sinchuk

Thursday, November 17, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

Alona will recount how she escaped Ukraine two weeks after Russia invaded her country. She fled with her two teenage boys from Dnipro to Kyiv where she had to make several arduous trips by train to Poland to arrange for visas under the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET) program which is one of the many special measures the Government of Canada has introduced to support the people of Ukraine. It offers Ukrainians and their family members free, extended temporary status and allows them to work, study, and stay in Canada until it is safe for them to return home.

Trevor Harrison

Thursday, November 10, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

Danielle Smith is the new leader of the United Conservative Party and premier of Alberta. She is a well-known politician and media personality, but who actually is she? How did she become the UCP’s leader? What does she believe? And where are her political beliefs likely to take the province? These are but a few of the questions the talk will attempt to answer. Speaker: Trevor Harrison Moderator: Colleen Quintal

Sharon Yanicki, PhD

Thursday, November 3, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

A recent report by SHENLA highlights that child and family poverty is an important issue in Lethbridge and area. This report was funded by the City of Lethbridge and the Government of Canada and prepared by HelpSeeker in collaboration with SHENLA. While rates of poverty have declined somewhat over the last twenty years, children 0-5 years of age continue to experience higher rates of low income across age groups. This presentation will explore which groups of children are differentially affected by poverty in our community, the impacts of poverty, and why action is needed.

Mike Fox , Director of Community Services

Thursday, October 27, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

Like many other communities across the country, the City of Lethbridge is seeing an increase in individuals experiencing homelessness. Without adequate shelters, transitional and permanent supportive housing in the city, an increase in encampments is being identified throughout the city. Many questions, ideas, concerns, and comments have been provided over the last several months regarding the solution to encampments and homelessness. Homelessness is a complex social issue, which requires collaboration from stakeholders across the city, the province and the country.

Mandy Sandbach , Lethbridge Sustainable Living Association and SOULfully SOIL

Thursday, October 20, 2022 12:00 PM

LSCO) Dining Room, 500-11 Street S, Lethbridge, AB

Mandy will provide an overview of the Lethbridge Sustainable Living Association and all of their hands-on grassroot initiatives as they relate to local food security, sustainability, community building, and reducing waste. The speaker will offer suggestions for simple ways of engaging our local food supporting initiatives, businesses, and organizations. She will discuss the importance of relationships and how this fundamental caring for one another increases our community ability to feed ourselves better while increasing our resiliency to the changing climate and political world instability.

Martha Mathurin-Moe, Executive Director- Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Thursday, October 13, 2022 12:00 PM

LSCO Dining Room, 500-11 Street S, Lethbridge, AB

The current social and educational discourse has brought to the forefront the urgent need to address systemic barriers and injustices that have historically excluded voices within academic spaces. The racial and social disparities were further exacerbated by the covid 19 pandemic which has also shown huge gaps within groups, communities, and countries around the world. Educational institutions as an agent of social change have an ethical responsibility to not only acknowledge its role in perpetuating the disparities of historically excluded groups but to be an active participant to call out and address them.

Dr. Mike Bruised Head , Ninna Piksii

Thursday, October 6, 2022 12:00 PM

LSCO, 500 - 11 Street South, Lethbridge, AB

Treaty 7 is an agreement between the Canadian government and several, mainly Blackfoot, First Nation band governments in what is today Southern Alberta. The idea of developing treaties for Blackfoot lands was suggested to Blackfoot Chief Crowfoot in 1875. Negotiations were concluded two years later and on September 22, 1877, the agreement was signed at the present-day Siksika Nation reserve, east of Calgary. Chief Crowfoot was one of the signatories to Treaty 7.

Ken Coles

Thursday, September 29, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

Farming Smarter is a policy governed, non-profit organization with by-laws under the Alberta Societies Act. It is also a Canadian Charity registered under the Canada Revenue Agency. Their farming related projects and programs access funds from numerous sources including research grants, foundations, industry, partners, and all levels of government. The speaker will argue, and many people tend to agree, that applied agri-food research is very important. Yet, funding is a big issue.

Chris Gallaway, Executive Director Friends of Medicare

Thursday, September 22, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

A coordinated effort of reactionary columnists, conservative politicians, right-wing think tanks and others are lining up to push the narrative that our public health care is “broken”; they predictably go on to conclude that the only solution is to privatize it. But the truth is our system isn’t broken, it’s being intentionally dismantled for the benefit of private profits. There is no doubt that our public health care system is struggling under a series of crises: the ongoing pandemic, a deadly drug poisoning crisis, chronic short staffing and burnout, bed and unit closures, chronic EMS red alerts, the impacts of years of austerity and cuts, and so much more.

Chelsey De Groot and Brett Carlson

Thursday, September 15, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

The Lethbridge Drug Treatment Court is contained within the criminal justice system and operates within the same legal framework that governs all adult criminal court proceedings in the Provincial Court of Alberta. The drug court operates based on a guilty plea with a delayed sentencing process (s.720 (2) of the Criminal Code) with entry being dependent on the consent of the Crown, Court, and the Accused. The Lethbridge Drug Treatment Court program is founded on national and international principles for drug treatment courts, is committed to community justice and restoration and are a support service program under the direction of McMan Youth, Family and Community Services Association.

Gilles Leclair & Kelti Baird

Thursday, September 8, 2022 12:00 PM

Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization

There are an increasing number of urban jurisdictions that are allowing egg-laying chickens/hens. Arguable, the reasons are clear - chickens provide protein, great fertilizer, pest control and are easy to maintain. But the bigger reason for keeping chickens may be for people to get more control of their food supply, just like growing vegetables etc. Following the past few years of the Covid pandemic, we all know food security should not be taken for granted and urban planning to allow for small scale food production can help many people meet their basic needs.

SACPA

Thursday, June 23, 2022 12:00 PM

Zoom

SACPA will hold the Annual General Meeting on Thursday June 23, 2022 from Noon to 1:00 pm via zoom. Please register at info@sacpa.ca providing your first & last name and email address. Once registration is complete the zoom link will be forwarded to you. Everyone is welcome to attend, however, only members in good standing are able to vote. SACPA is grateful for your ongoing support. Memberships for 2022-2023 can be purchased via Stripe/credit card at https://www.

Michael McCready

Thursday, June 16, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

People increasingly spend a lot of time looking at screens and particularly so during these past two years of the Covid pandemic. Social media chatter and news on computers, phones and other devices have become a big part of our lives. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are two technologies that are changing the way we use screens, while creating new and exciting interactive experiences. Virtual reality uses a headset to place you in a computer-generated world that you can explore.

Kathleen Mah

Thursday, June 9, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

Kathleen hopes to illuminate the ongoing colonial agenda and its extension into COVID-19 and public health relations. Particularly, she will focus on how anti-mask groups- who refer to themselves as Freedom Fighters have interacted with formal institutions like public health, and vice versa, to create expendable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. She hopes to demonstrate how Freedom Fighters and public health alike perpetuate colonialism through a new arena of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Duane Bratt

Thursday, June 2, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

The United Conservative Party (UCP) members voted by mail-in ballots from April 9 to May 11 whether or not they have confidence in their leader and on May 18, 2022, the result was scheduled to be announced. Originally, a special general meeting was planned to be an in-person voting event in Red Deer, but because of soaring attendee numbers, it was decided by the provincial UCP board to move the vote to a mail-in ballot over a five-week period.

Mahdi and Jennel Taheri

Thursday, May 26, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

Mahdi will share his journey crossing the gate as Afghanistan fell and the events leading up to it. He will also cover current events, what to believe and what not to believe as well as his process times and integration into first, the United States and now into Canada. He still has a brother stuck in Abu Dhabi that has been left behind from the NGO that brought him out. There is lots to cover and much to be still resolved.

Mark Holzer

Thursday, May 19, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

The Canadian Red Cross has played a significant role in Canadian society for over 120 years, helping people and communities in Canada and around the world in times of need and supporting communities in strengthening their resilience. The speaker will provide an overview of the Canadian Red Cross’ membership in the IFRC (International Federation Red Cross), as well as discussing their mandate, mission and fundamental principles and how they work in Canada and around the world.

Dr. Chris Burton, Associate Professor of History

Thursday, May 12, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine by Russian armed forces that for weeks had been gathering along their border. The invasion also included attacks across the Belarus-Ukraine border and was followed by targeted airstrikes on military and civilian buildings in Ukraine. Chris Burton will analyze the conflict in Ukraine in light of the development of Putin’s regime over the years and the longer history of Ukrainian relations with Russia.

Dr. Paul Park, MD, FRCPC

Thursday, May 5, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

The speaker will define and provide examples of “Access Block” within our Health Care system, and discuss what it means for patients and patient outcomes. An overview of the current challenges and issues growing within our system, that impair timely access to acute health care in our province will be considered. Speaker: Dr. Paul Parks MD, FRCPC From 2006 to the present, Dr. Parks has been actively involved in provincial & national Emergency Department Overcrowding (EDOC) advocating for important access initiatives and changes.

Stephen Lewis Foundation

Thursday, April 28, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

The Stephen Lewis Foundation will share how their community-based partners in South Africa are safeguarding the years of progress made in the fight against HIV and AIDs while battling the challenges of COVID-19. Speaker: Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) The Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) is a progressive, feminist organization rooted in the principles of social justice, international solidarity, and substantive equality. The SLF was created with the express purpose of supporting community-based organizations working on the frontlines of the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Jessica Brandon , Director of Programs for the Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT) Alberta

Thursday, April 21, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

ACT Alberta provides training and education on human trafficking to service providers and stakeholders throughout the province. Incidents of human trafficking often happen in plain sight, yet may go unnoticed due to lack of citizen understanding and information. The speaker will discuss the tools needed to accurately identify red flags and indicators of human trafficking and what citizens can do to safely respond to such instances. Human trafficking, charges and convictions in Alberta, as well as ACT Alberta’s victim response will be discussed.

Shelley Hoover

Thursday, April 14, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

Bees and beekeepers face many challenges. The Speaker will discuss what a bee is, which bees are introduced, and which groups are indigenous to Alberta, ongoing threats to bee populations, the benefits of bees to society, bee regulations and policy, and how bees are going global. Speaker: Shelley Hoover Shelley Hoover studies apiculture and pollination in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Lethbridge. Her research focuses on bee health and management, breeding, and nutrition, as well as canola pollination, and the effects of environmental change on plant-pollinator interactions.

Thursday, April 7, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED DUE TO COVID. People increasingly spend a lot of time looking at screens and particularly so during these past two years of the Covid pandemic. Social media chatter and news on computers, phones and other devices have become a big part of our lives. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are two technologies that are changing the way we use screens, while creating new and exciting interactive experiences.

Robert L. (Bob) Ascah, Ph.D. Research Fellow, The Parkland Institute

Thursday, March 31, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

The Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) is one of the most important Crown corporations operating in the province. It was, until recent controversies, perhaps the least known and understood of Alberta’s provincial agencies. In “Can AIMCo be Fixed?” a research paper published by The Parkland Institute, Bob Ascah examines the investment track record of AIMCo, the critical role played by the provincially-appointed board of directors and AIMCo’s independence from the government.

Jeffrey Hodgson

Thursday, March 24, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

The CPP came into effect on January 1, 1966 and applied to all provinces and territories except Quebec, where the separate but similar QPP was established in the same year. The contribution rates for QPP are higher than those for CPP. Although the year’s maximum pensionable earnings ($61,600 for 2021) and annual basic exemption ($3,500) for both plans are the same, an employee paying into the QPP will pay contributions at a higher rate (5.

Richard Phillips, chair of Irrigating Alberta Inc

Thursday, March 17, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

The development of large irrigation projects in Southern Alberta over 100 years ago brought secure water supplies to a previously arid landscape, establishing irrigation as an integral part of our society and environment. On October 9, 2020 the Government of Alberta and the Canada Infrastructure Bank announced an $815 million investment in partnership with eight irrigation districts to “modernize irrigation district infrastructure and increase water storage capacity”, which is now known as the Alberta Irrigation Modernization Program.

Ibrahim Turay , full-time faculty in the School of Justice Studies at Lethbridge College

Thursday, March 10, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

Race is a central concept in the subordination of Black people in Canada and the United States (U.S.). Yet, race has not always been considered to be a vital research variable in studies in North America. The speaker will explore how and why storytelling and counter-narrative has emerged as a methodology to unpack race, racism, belonging, and power in a settler-colonial nation-state like Canada. In other words, Storytelling develops as a fundamental methodology in Critical Race Theory tradition exposing the daily encounters of racism experienced by people of colour in societies that are colour-blind and race neutral like Canada and the U.

Dr Moira Williams

Tuesday, March 1, 2022 7:00 PM

Youtube

Australia is obsessed with coal. The current Prime Minister held up a lump of coal in Parliament and told Australians not to be afraid. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal, digging up millions of tonnes per year and shipping it across the world, fueling the climate crisis. The speaker will cover the state of play with coal in Australia - from the projects still on the cards and their impacts, and the tactics and strategies campaigners and communities are using to push for an end to coal mining and export.

Dr. Samuel deWalle, Family Physician

Thursday, February 24, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

Citizens of Southern Alberta have been suffering through crises of different sorts over the past several years. Congruent with the Covid-19 pandemic has been a gradual but persisting loss of Family Physicians in the city of Lethbridge, and with them the loss of access to Primary Care. By the end of 2021, approximately 45% of Lethbridge citizens found themselves without a Family Physician. Dr. deWalle, a Lethbridge Family Physician, will take you through the history of this serious corrosion of healthcare, explore its causes and implications, and discuss what may happen next.

Tad Mitsui

Wednesday, February 16, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

People who oppose mandatory masking, Covid vaccinations and mandates as a violation of basic human rights and freedoms need to be reminded that the flip side of freedom is responsibility. The so-called “Freedom Convoy” and their illegal road blockades arguable ignores that principle. This may be their perception of freedom fighting, but reality is, they’re more like hostage takers causing movement restriction as well as financial and mental harm to responsible citizens who have done their part getting vaccinated.

Tzeporah Berman, International Program Director at Stand.earth

Thursday, February 10, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

Having recently returned from COP26 Tzeporah will reflect on whether the climate negotiations were a breakthrough or a disappointment and discuss how the emergence of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance of countries and the proposed Fossil Fuel Non-proliferation Treaty Initiative relate to the future of oil and gas in Alberta and Canada. Speaker: Tzeporah Berman Tzeporah has been designing environmental advocacy campaigns and environmental policy for 30 years. She is currently the International Program Director at Stand.

Stefan de Villiers, coordinator of the male domestic abuse outreach program (MDAOP)

Thursday, February 3, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

Since 2006, the Calgary Counselling Centre has overseen a unique program, the Male Domestic Abuse Outreach Program (MDAOP), delivering services to men who have been impacted by family violence. The MDAOP is one of only a handful of programs in the country to offer support to male victims of family violence. The program delivers outreach support, connecting clients with community resources (e.g., peer support, food bank, legal advice, credit counseling, shelter), one-on-one counselling (in-person or remote), and a 14-week therapy group for men who have experienced intimate partner abuse.

Nara Fedozzi, registered Social Worker

Thursday, January 27, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

According to Stats Canada - Family Violence in Canada - a statistical profile in 2019, there were 107,810 victims of police-reported intimate partner violence in 2019, up from 99,000 in 2018. Alberta has the 4th highest rate of police-reported intimate partner violence amongst the provinces. The overall rate of police-reported family violence increased for the third consecutive year, rising 13% over this period. Those alarming numbers do not take into account unreported cases, which often happens for various reasons.

Dena McMartin, faculty member, and Vice-President of Research at the University of Lethbridge

Thursday, January 20, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

Many regions in the Canadian Prairies and American Midwest are managing declining water resources, lower snowfall volumes and less predictable precipitation events. With the impacts of changing climate beginning to become more evident and impactful on our behaviours, livelihoods, and economic development and sustainability, what are some of the innovations and research activities at the University of Lethbridge that are helping to improve resource awareness, management, and conservation? Through this presentation, we seek a discussion about the challenges, constraints, and competing interests that are making water management increasingly difficult and important for southern Alberta.

Larry Elford

Thursday, January 13, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

The speaker will account for his experiences during and after a two-decade financial career, and what he learned during the research and writing of his second book “Farming Humans”. In hindsight the book could have been titled, “Humans, Farming Humans”, as it includes tricks and tactics used by those who profit from harming others. It can be argued that some of the unique features of white-collar crime are worth looking at, as they shed light into some key problems, we face in today’s world.

Preston Crow Chief, Sergeant

Thursday, January 6, 2022 12:00 PM

Youtube

This past year, Canada, along with other allies, left Afghanistan after the Taliban overran Kabul and other major centers of that country. With Canada’s painful exit from Afghanistan, our years in that country are now open to reflection and assessment. The speaker served in Afghanistan with Canada’s military from October 2009 to June 2010. He will offer observations about the Afghanistan nature and land, the experience of the military and what we can learn from our time there.