MEDIA ADVISORY – For immediate release: Tuesday July 20, 2010

Community groups are hosting a community BBQ and town hall meeting to encourage residents to protect public services in the lead up to Toronto’s municipal elections.

The civic engagement event will take place on Saturday July 24 from 12 noon to 5p.m. at Elmbank Community Centre located at 10 Rampart Road, Toronto.

“Residents across the GTA and Etobicoke North in particular are hard-hit by the changing economic landscape,” says North Etobicoke resident and event organizer, Nigel Barriffe. “From public transit to hospitals, schools to electricity – good public services help lift families out of poverty and ensure a decent quality of life for all. It’s time for residents to stand up and tell our politicians that we all deserve equitable, public, and well-funded services.”

Saturday’s non-partisan event is free and open to the public. The event will include a town hall meeting, where residents and public sector workers will share personal stories describing their experience with public services – both as a place of employment, and as a provider of critical services. Participants will also discuss ways to protect and improve public services.

“Without high quality public services, society’s divisions will grow as those who cannot afford public services will fall further behind,” says Judy Persad, coordinator of the Good Jobs for All Coalition. “We need to invest in our public services to ensure the health and vitality of our communities.”

The event will provide free food (halal) and soft drinks, activities for children and youth, and information tables staffed by City of Toronto service and program workers, local social service agencies, community groups, and unions. A video diary of the day’s event will be circulated to the mayoral candidates.

The community BBQ and town hall is being organized by Community Organizing for Responsible Development (CORD), the Good Jobs for All Coalition, and Social Planning Toronto. Other groups to be in attendance include: the Public Transit Coalition, the Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU), and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 416 and Local 1.

For more information about the event go to: www.goodjobsforall.ca

Contacts:

Nigel Barriffe, 416 427 1192, nigelbarriffe@yahoo.ca
Jessica Bell, 416 937 0076, jbell@labourcouncil.ca