I’m Jag, the new Administrative Assistant at Humanist Canada. I’m super excited to be on-board with a great like-minded team. 

A little bit about me. I live by the philosophy of being of service to others and always thinking about the greater good. My educational background is in psychology. I think the best way to understand humans is by observing them! I’m a Spring and Summer person and a huge fan of Indian Classical music – well, really all Classical music and World music. I’m also a story writer; for someone who has no interest in drama, I’m a great drama writer and love watching dramas, too. 

And if you need anything super quickly from me, you can always get my attention by offering to send me chocolate cake! Seriously, you can reach me at members@humanistcanada.ca.

And enjoy this newsletter,

Jag

Following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday focuses on giving back. Giving Tuesday is viewed as the opening day of the giving season and has engaged millions of Canadians to support charities like Humanist Canada.

Your donation to Humanist Canada will go toward expanding humanist activities throughout Canada, especially in underserviced areas outside our major urban centers. And we are developing a National Program of Humanist Chaplains to serve Canadian Humanists. Together, with your support, we can do so much more to support Humanists in Canada.

Click here if you'd like to donate early.

This webinar will highlight efforts across Canada to increase access to prescription contraception, including the AccessBC Campaign in British Columbia and the ContraceptiON Campaign in Ontario. The talk will then delve into the strategy of Women on Waves (WoW), an international non-governmental organization that seeks to prevent unsafe abortions and unwanted pregnancies. For more information, click here.

Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson is an American feminist, novelist, playwright and director. She is the author of White Nights, Black Paradise (2015), Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels (2013), Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars (2011). In 2020, she was named Harvard Humanist of the Year.

“Going Godless” will examine this history vis-à-vis the emergence of Black feminist humanist perspectives in the American secular humanist and atheist movements. For example, how have Black women humanists and atheists drawn on the feminist/womanist legacy of writers and thinkers like Zora Neale Hurston, Lorraine Hansberry, Alice Walker, and Nella Larsen? How are they challenging the traditional church/state separation agenda of the mainstream atheist/humanist movements? And what intersectional issues inform a Black feminist humanist political agenda as racial, gender, and socioeconomic inequality intensifies in the U.S.?

To attend, RSVP with Vanessa Turyatunga at vturyatu@uottawa.ca or click the button below.

Canada’s refugee policies discriminate against atheist refugee claimants. That policy includes a Less Complex Claims (LCC) category that applies to refugee claimants from particular religions and particular countries. It allows them to gain refugee status without a hearing or a shortened hearing, but atheists are excluded. Secular Connexion Séculière (SCS) focuses on lobbying efforts on this discrimination, and Humanist Canada encourages our members, friends and supporters to sign the petition.

Exploring Canadians’ knowledge and perspectives on artificial womb technology: A qualitative multi-methods study

Researchers at the University of Ottawa, Canada are conducting an online survey dedicated to Canadians’ knowledge and perceptions of assisted human reproduction.

You are eligible to participate if you are age 18 or older, a Canadian citizen, and sufficiently fluent in English or French to complete the survey.

* Participation is both voluntary and confidential *

The survey should take no more than 45 minutes to complete. Participants will be eligible for a CAD50 gift certificate at amazon.ca.

The study is being conducted by Srishti Hukku, a lifetime member of Humanist Canada, a cotutelle doctoral candidate in the University of Ottawa’s Population Health program and Macquarie University’s Anthropology program. Srishti is also a Research Fellow with Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants.

To ensure the newsletter is relevant we invite your response to a few short questions. Having feedback from across the country is our goal. Click here!

Humanist Canada has just launched a new member system which will allow you to update your own information. Click on the button below and you will be prompted to set up your login information.

If you have any questions about renewing, please contact the National Office at members@humanistcanada.ca or 1-877-486-2671.