News from CALL Mid‑February 2021

Sketch by Susan Carpenter, member of the Sketch Club Interest Group

CALL Events in February

Check the CALL website for details of the following events. Registration is required for all these online events. You must be a member to register.

Wednesday, February 17, 1:00 – 3:00pm. Your Alberta Pensions in the Time of Climate Change

Presenter: Adam Scott
If you or someone you know is currently receiving or contributing to a defined benefit public sector Alberta pension plan this webinar will be of interest.

Do you have concerns about how responsibly your pension fund is invested? Are the moneys being invested to bring the best return on your dollar in the long term? Are they being managed in the best interests of the pension holders and the health of the planet?

For more details and registration go to the Your Alberta Pensions in the Time of Climate Change page.

Wednesday, February 17, 7:30pm. Treks and Travels

France by Bike and Barge
Presenter: Patricia Fosbrook
It was a new and exciting idea to join a group of family members to bike and barge in France. There were 17 people in this guided biking group. New friendships were formed with travelers from Sweden and the US during a wonderful and safe trip of lasting memories.

For more details and registration go to the Treks and Travels page.

Saturday, February 20, 9:30 – 11:00am. Ukefest 2021
We are going ONLINE this year! Our Festival Workshops will be once a month from January to June, 2021. (For this event only, membership is not required.)

For more information and to register go to the Ukefest 2021 page.

Monday, February 22, 1 – 3pm: The next presentation of Not So Common Law.
Explore the historical and social background of some of the intriguing, interesting and important legal cases which have had lasting impact on our society and affect our lives today.

Check the Not So Common Law page for topic and registration.

Thursday, February 25, 10:00am – 12:00 noon Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) and How it is Accessed in Alberta

Presenter: June Churchill
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) has been legal throughout Canada since June of 2016. In Alberta, (June 2016-August 2020), 1,351 have died using MAID, and 190 have applied but did not meet the legal criteria. MAID accounts for approximately 2% of all deaths in Alberta.

This presentation will explore MAID as an end-of-life option, the application process, criteria, and current legislation. You will also hear a first-hand story about a family’s experience with MAID, and we will answer your questions.

For more details and registration go to the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) and How it is Accessed in Alberta page.

Jim Conway has been generous with his time and knowledge over the past several years leading and facilitating the Not So Common Law Interest Group. His topics are always current and relevant often citing fascinating case law to add a human face to legal proceedings. He uses PowerPoint presentations to incorporate interesting visuals and to help his audience understand the finer points of the law. Offering Jim’s presentations to a wider audience during these housebound times, was a conversation begun by Mary Lou Kerr. She wondered if we could use ZOOM technology to make his monthly sessions open to all CALL members. Her idea became reality with the help of Dale Rudd – Area Coordinator and the ZOOM team’s Richard Farrand. So far attendance has more than doubled with approximately 75 – 90 in attendance. Feedback has been very positive, with participants appreciating an opportunity to attend, and to use ZOOM’s Q and A format to allow for informal discussion.

Thank you to Jim for opening up your presentations, Mary Lou and Dale for their program support and to Richard for enabling this popular program to reach a wider audience. Flexibility during these times is very much appreciated!

Save the Date: February 22. 1 – 3pm on Zoom: The next presentation of Not So Common Law. Check the Not So Common Law page for topic and registration.

Coming in March

March 2, 7:30 – 9:00pm Science and Environment

Coal Mining on the Eastern Slopes
Panel Discussion

The UCP government announced the return of the 1976 Coal Development Policy in the face of broad and vocal opposition from all segments of Alberta's population. Does this mean our concerns over the environmental and aesthetic damage surface coal mines inflict on our beloved foothills can be laid to rest? Likely not! Many people are still concerned over the government's intentions and the status of existing leases. We have assembled three distinguished experts to help clarify these concerns in a panel discussion.

Panelists:
Professor Jim Byrne, Geography Dept., University of Lethbridge
Professor Nigel Bankes,(Ret) Law Faculty, University of Calgary
Kevin Van Tighem, environmentalist

For more information and to register go to the Science and Environment page.

Thursdays, March 4 – April 15, 7:30 – 9:00pm (7 sessions) CALL Geocaching 101

Geocaching is a family orientated, outdoor, global ‘treasure’ hunt using a portable GPS enabled device (i.e., smart phone). This open-learning ‘course’ provides basic education and training enabling a person to find geocaches near their home and anywhere in the world.

For more information and to register go to the CALL Geocaching 101 page.

March 5, 1:00 – 3:00pm The Perils of Dogmatic Certainty in Uncertain Times
a talk by Judy Johnson

An experienced psychotherapist and the author of two books and various publications on dogmatism, Judy says that as far as she can tell, dogmatism isn't going away anytime soon.

For more information and to register go to the The Perils of Dogmatic Certainty in Uncertain Times page.

March 10, 1:00 – 3:00pm Health and Wellness

Is There a Future for Long-term Care?

Presenter: Pat Armstrong, Distinguished Research Professor in Sociology at York University and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
The crisis that has unfolded in long-term care has led to call for its elimination. While alternatives are important to promote, many will still need and want such care so we need to think through how we can make long-term care as good as it can be- a positve place to live, work and visit.

Registration is now open. For more information and to register go to the Health and Wellness page.

Health and Wellness Series

We have had questions about the future of the Health and Wellness Series given the recent resignation of the series coordinator Jill Chambers. Speakers in this area have been popular and we know health and wellness topics are timely and relevant to our members. The many registrations we’ve received for the upcoming session on Medically Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Alberta (Feb. 25) are a clear demonstration of your ongoing interest. There are other programs touching on health and wellness currently under development. If you are interested in volunteering to help us continue the excellent presentations in this series please contact the Chair of our Program Committee, Barbara Decker Pierce. She would be pleased to discuss how you can get involved.

‘Fake News’ and the Future of Democracy

A Community Conference via Zoom
Friday evening, May 7; Saturday morning, May 8; Saturday morning, May 15.

Advances in technology have enabled citizens to become better informed than ever before; however, they have also made it increasingly difficult to distinguish fact from fiction: ‘Fake news’ is becoming a growth industry. This conference will explore the ‘fake news’ phenomenon with a view to assessing its possible impacts on democratic institutions, and to providing participants with tools to combat the tsunami of distortions coming our way.

The Program will feature:
A keynote address: Fact or Faux? On the Crisis of News and Democracy in a Tweet-As-You-Go Era by Dr. Maria Bakardjieva, Professor in the Department of Communication, Media and Film, University of Calgary, a specialist in media and democracy

An expert panel

• Dr. Brooks DeCillia, national reporter for CBC, and a postdoctoral fellow in the Dept. of Political Science, U. of C.
• Kim Groome, Information Specialist, Taylor Family Digital Library, U. of C.
• James Murphy, Student Learning and Engagement Librarian, U. of C.
• Dr. Gillian Steward, Calgary-based journalist, regular columnist for the Toronto Star, and journalism instructor, MRU
• Dr. David Swann, Calgary physician, former Alberta MLA, and former Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.

Q & A
Facilitator-led discussion groups

ALL are welcome. Come join the conversation!
Cost: $20
More information is available on the ‘Fake News’ and the Future of Democracy page

CALLing all Writers and Visual Artists

Do you have a story to tell? Are you a poet, an essayist, a short story author, a visual artist? Bishop’s University Lifelong Learning Academy (BULLA) is compiling a collection of works that explore the themes of hope and resilience in the time of COVID.

Hope and Resilience Under Covid-19 will be published as both a paperback and an e-book in summer, 2021. All genres welcome: fiction, memoir, haiku, flash fiction, photography, drawings, paintings. Deadline for submissions March 20, 2021. For more information, download the project announcement and the submission details.

Your CALL Newsletter

The CALL Newsletter is our way to communicate what is going on in our community. Usually we communicate to members about upcoming events, however, since all CALL gatherings are postponed for an undetermined period of time, we decided to use the newsletters as a way to ‘peek behind the curtain of CALL’, to give some general information about CALL groups and members.

You are invited to send your ideas and suggestions for future issues to newsletter@calgarylifelonglearners.ca. Let us know what your Interest Groups are doing and your strategies for coping with this situation in which the whole world finds itself. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity; not every submission will necessarily be published.

Meanwhile, be well, stay well in every sense of the word.