Dear OCLA supporter,
Re: OCLA Launch Event of January 25, 2013
This note is to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who made it out to the OCLA Launch Event of Friday, January 25! More than 60 people were in attendance, which is a marvellous turnout for our first public event! For those who couldn’t make it, please read on for more details about the evening’s activities.
The launch event was an inspiring moment as we begin our work for defence of civil liberties in Ontario. We began with an introduction to OCLA and a selection of short videos about civil liberties, then heard talks from guest speakers, and finally, we enjoyed some food and desserts while having an exciting, open group discussion between all attendees that went on late into the night.
The pictures attached to this email, by Kristina Staal Photography, beautifully capture the event.
In particular, we would like to thank our guest speakers: Prof. Benoît Awazi, Prof. Steven E. Noble, and Dr. Waleed AlGhaithy for their captivating talks about civil liberties and freedom of expression. Videos of the guest speakers’ talks and the text of Dr. Noble’s speech are posted on ocla.ca at the following link: https://ocla.ca/ocla-launch-guest-speakers-lancement-docla-discours-des-invites/
Many thanks as well to Stephan Ethier of Macarons et Madeleines in Ottawa for creating the “OCLA cake” (photo attached), and to uOttawa Cinema Academica for hosting our event.
Several media interviews and articles about the launch event were published in the days before and after the 25th, and these are posted on the OCLA’s “News Blog” at ocla.ca. For example, Radio-Canada’s show “Le midi trente Ontario” broadcast a report about the OCLA all across the province on Thursday, January 24. This report is available at the following link (in french): https://ocla.ca/locla-sur-radio-canada/
Please stay tuned for email messages announcing 1) a first meeting of the OCLA for Self-represented litigants (SRLs) working group; and 2) creation of a Media outreach and research working group! Please contact us at any time if you are interested in participating in either of these groups, or read more about them at: https://ocla.ca/working-groups/
Finally, please do consider making a donation to support the OCLA. Donations will help pay for legal fees, organizing events, promotional material, hosting our website, and maintaining a bank account. Donations can be made through Paypal by clicking HERE or on the Paypal button at www.ocla.ca.
Thank you once again, and we look forward to continuing the discussion and seeing you again soon!
Joseph Hickey, Executive Director
Matthew Fournier, Technical Director
Caroline Wang, Treasurer
Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA) https://www.ocla.ca
