Panel: How Change Happens

Our final panel included speakers representing a diversity of strategies on how change happens. John Clarke from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Judy Duncan from ACORN Canada, and Winston Tinglin from Social Planning Toronto offered three ideologically and strategically different approaches to confronting poverty and organizing for social change.

John outlined how one’s view of government determines strategy, and talked about the importance of dsiruptive collective action to challenging the status quo – he referred to OCAP’s direct action service model (for example fighting evictions, deportations) and talked about OCAP’s most recent mobilizing around the Special Diet !llowance, and the Raise the Rates campaign.

Judy spoke about ACORN’s efforts to create membership strength and leadership development through their door-to-door approach to community organizing – focusing on mobilizing efforts for tenant’s rights, for changes to the Landlord Licensing Act, and highlighting Living Wage by-law successes in British Columbia.

Winston linked analysis, with strategy, with ability to execute strategy; he spoke about immediate needs to ‘ease pressures’ on people but the importance of connecting that work with bigger efforts to change a ‘stubborn system’.  Winston invited participants to become part of the Toronto Working Group on Poverty.

Conference Objectives

Opening Session

Making Sense of the Research Workshops

Popular Education Workshops

Research Workshops

Panel: How Change Happens

Conference Wrap-up

Thank you!

Resource List