JRK is happy to support this rally for migrant justice! Join us there!
Rally for Regularization – Sept 17!
March for the Land! Kingston bus!
Kingston bus to March for the Land (Sept 27, 2023)
Just Recovery Kingston invites you to join us in supporting the Indigenous communities of the historic Land Defence Alliance against unwanted mining! Members of five Northern Ontario First Nations will be marching in Toronto with allies from across the province.
Meet us on Wednesday, September 27 at 8am, at the Memorial Centre to board the bus for departure.
The event in Toronto will run from roughly 12pm to 3pm, with a return to Kingston immediately after. This march is a family-friendly event.
We ask that you pack a lunch and check the weather in advance to dress appropriately. The bus will be going rain or shine!
Sign up for your spot on the bus at: https://forms.gle/2EiM9TGK8HBpX1mM6
Questions? Email Aric.McBay (at) chco.ca or call Aric at 613.985.1117.
City & Climate Townhall – December 7
The world’s climate attention is focused on the national leaders at COP15 & COP27, but much of our emissions are under municipal control.
How can Kingston meet the 50% by 2030 target required by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change?
What can we do to respond to the climate crisis at the municipal level, as the provincial government decimates local planning and conservation?
Just Recovery Kingston and Kingston Youth Climate Action are sponsoring a City and Climate Town Hall online, December 7, with these great panelists discussing opportunities and obstacles for climate justice at the local level:
-Ian Borsuk, Environment Hamilton
-Alison Gu, Burnaby city councillor
-Mary Jane Philp, 350 Kingston
Registration is required for this free event. Click here to register.
This event is cosponsored by the Providence Centre for Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation
Comm. Gardens Letter Writing Campaign!
!!CALL TO ACTION!!
Help improve access to community gardens in Kingston and your community!
Why community gardens?
Community gardens play an important role in increasing access to fresh food, improving air and soil quality, and supporting wellness. However, existing equity barriers reduce the ability for communities in Kingston to start and maintain community gardens.
What can I do?
Just Recovery Kingston is asking residents during the months of May and June to copy and paste the attached template letter into an email and send it to their District Councillor. The letter calls on the City of Kingston to address ongoing financial barriers that make starting, operating and accessing community gardens inequitable.
| District 1 – Countryside | Gary Oosterhof | goosterhof@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 2 – Loyalist-Cataraqui | Simon Chapelle | schapelle@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 3 – Collins-Bayridge | Lisa Osanic | losanic@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 4 – Lakeside | Wayne Hill | whill@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 5 – Portsmouth | Bridget Doherty | bdoherty@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 6 – Trillium | Robert Kiley | rkiley@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 7 – Kingscourt-Rideau | Mary Rita Holland | mrholland@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 8 – Meadowbrook-Strathcona | Jeff McLaren | jmclaren@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 9 – Williamsville | Jim Neill | jneill@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 10 – Sydenham | Peter Stroud | pstroud@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 11 – Kingstown | Rob Hutchison | rhutchison@cityofkingston.ca |
| District 12 – Pittsburgh | Ryan Boehme | rnboehme@cityofkingston.ca |
[1-PAGE LETTER TO COUNCILLORS – Copy and Paste this into the body of your email.]
Alternatively, use this word file to write your letter:
**Please CC justrecoverykingston@gmail.com for tracking purposes**
Email subject line: Improve Access to Community Gardens
Dear Councillor ________,
[Optional 2-3 sentences about who you are and why this campaign matters to you].
One of the stated priorities in Kingston’s Strategic Plan 2019-2022 is to “provide better support to community-led initiatives that support local food production”. We heartily endorse that objective and ask that you consider our proposals.
With hundreds of would-be food growers on waitlists for community garden plots, it is imperative that the city remove barriers to expanding community gardens as soon as possible. Here are some of those barriers:
- Inadequate funding for the community garden grants budget.
- Costly liability-insurance premiums that still leave individual volunteers on the hook for the deductible.
- A raised-bed requirement, even where there is no evidence of soil contamination.
To help the City of Kingston achieve its stated priority of supporting local food production, and addressing the listed barriers, we suggest the following solutions:
- Increase funding for community garden grants from $5000 to $50,000 annually. (The City of Victoria — population 92,000, compared to Kingston’s 137,000 — maintains annual funds of $160,000 for community garden start-up and volunteer coordination grants).
- Cover the cost of the $2 million liability insurance, required under the Community Gardens Development and Operations Policy, for all community gardens operating on city-land.
- Adjust the Community Gardens Development and Operations Policy to allow in-ground, as opposed to only raised bed gardens, where appropriate and proven safe.
Thank you for considering our ideas. We look forward to any additional suggestions you may have, and to hearing that you support a program that helps build friendly, co-operative communities, while providing fresh vegetables to both the growers, and the recipients of their in-kind donations.
Warm regards,