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City Seeks Silence from the People |
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Written by Jim Blake
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Wednesday, 28 October 2009 |
Proposed bylaw will strip Calgarians of Constitutional Right
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Concerned Christians Canada is challenging Calgarians to speak out and save their constitutional freedoms from being squashed by City Hall. The organization has reported that Calgary's City administration will present a draft bylaw to City Council's Standing Policy Committee, comprised only of 7 City aldermen, in private session, on October 28th which, among many other restrictions, will redefine and expand the municipal building boundaries to include adjacent sidewalks and +15 areas. If the proposed bill is passed by the standing committee of aldermen, the bill will then be voted on by the rest of City Council. The proposed bylaw will prohibit many events from taking place at all, and will restrict others from happening without permits, within these new boundaries. Peaceful protests and demonstrations are on the list of activities which will not be allowed within the newly expanded boundaries, which, to be clear, means currently public sidewalks in front of the municipal buildings where many protests currently happen.
"It is insanely arrogant and undemocratic of City Hall to ban public protests. If the City passes this bill which will go before committee and then be voted on by City Council, the right to peaceful assembly on what are currently public sidewalks will be stopped, the right to peacefully protest City Halls policies or governing methods will be prohibited. The kind of stripping of rights, as fundamental as the right to peacefully protest in front of Government buildings, has only happened in the worst and most oppressive societies in history. This is City Councils way of silencing the public, on issues like wasting of taxpayer's money, excessive taxation and the like, and it is unacceptable in a free and democratic society. Calgarians need to rise up, and insist that this bill be struck down, before the bill is made law," stated Jim Blake National Chairman Concerned Christians Canada.
Concerned Christians Canada is especially concerned with the fact that that the public is not being consulted or informed about their rights being stripped of them. They have indicated that this move seems to be happening behind closed doors, by steath, and with a stacked deck of only private sessions of aldermen. They also stated that they feel that history is repeating itself, with only a hand full of people making decisions that will adversely affect the rights over a million people.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 October 2009 )
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Widening rich-poor gap adds to challenges |
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Written by Calgary Herald
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Tuesday, 06 October 2009 |
Homeless Calgarians doug and ron relax in the crowded dining area of the Calgary drop-In Centre last winter. "The gap between rich and poor in Calgary is increasing and the needs of lower-income Calgarians are increasing," said Kerry Longpre, vice-president of communications for The Calgary Foundation which publishes the citizens' report card to provide snapshots of 12 key issues in the city.
Photograph by: Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald
CALGARY - Money, or lack thereof, is a constant challenge for many Calgarians rated their financial well-being an insipid "C," according to the 2009 Calgary's Vital Signs, an annual report that measures the quality of life in the city.
"The gap between rich and poor in Calgary is increasing and the needs of lower-income Calgarians are increasing," said Kerry Longpre, vice-president of communications for The Calgary Foundation which publishes the citizens' report card to provide snapshots of 12 key issues in the city.
Citizens say that what's working are affordable housing initiatives, job opportunities, programs for low-income families and charitable organizations helping the homeless.
What's NOT working, say respondents, is the city's high cost of living, pricey housing and expensive transit.
Vital Signs is based on the online responses of 1,166 Calgarians. A randomized phone survey of 419 Calgarians augmented the online survey. And data gleaned from research done by numerous community groups helps put those snapshots in context.
"Ten per cent of our workforce earns less than what we considered to be a living wage," said Jordan Hamilton, a research and policy analyst with Vibrant Communities Calgary, a poverty reduction organization that contributed to the report. In other words, one in 10 Calgarians earns less than $22,171 -- considered the unofficial poverty line for an individual as measured by Statistics Canada's before-tax Low Income Cut-Off.
Living below the poverty line means scrambling to feed yourself and your family. Between December 2008 and February 2009, The Calgary Interfaith Foodbank distributed 3,000 more food hampers than it did over the same period one year ago. In the same period, the number of new clients grew by 1,500 -- an increase of 44 per cent, according to figures from Vital Signs.
At the same time, the cost of groceries has risen. In June 2008 the average monthly cost of a nutritious 51-item food basket for a Calgary family of four was $784, a 10 per cent increase from November 2007.
"This is a very conservative estimate, based on a family with children under the age of six," said Hamilton, adding that feeding school-age children and teens pushes the cost up considerably. Nor does the "basket" include packaged foods, takeout or restaurant meals.
The recession is exacting a toll. Calgary's unemployment rate doubled in the past year, up from 3.3 per cent in June 2008, to 6.6 per cent in June 2009 -- still lower than the national rate of 8.4 per cent. But with the economy down, the demand for community services is up.
For example, high-risk calls to Distress Centre Calgary for suicide attempts or homicidal thoughts reached 371 by August, more than the 369 high-risk calls recorded in all of 2008.
"With the recession we're all feeling vulnerable. Even the middle class is affected, and we're seeing that in the number of bankruptcies," said Hamilton.
From the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009, Calgary saw an 81 per cent increase in consumer bankruptcies.
Fred Robertson, an anti-poverty activist, believes that with the recession and growing unemployment the gap between rich and poor may in fact be shrinking.
"There are fewer Calgarians getting richer and more getting poorer," said Robertson, 70, who lived below the poverty line for 20 years, but saw his situation improve somewhat when he became a senior citizen and qualified for affordable housing and a regular income from his old age pension.
"I wouldn't want to be a young person coming up these days, losing my job and trying to make ends meet."
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By Valerie Berenyi, Calgary Herald
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Regarding Idols at Calgary Zoo |
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Written by Concerned Christians Canada
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Thursday, 24 September 2009 |
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Jim Blake, National Chairman of Concerned Christians Canada on behalf of Christians, Christian organizations, and Churches
To the administration of the Calgary Zoo
Thursday, September 24, 2009
This letter is an official protest on the part of Calgarian Christians to the placement of a hindu "god" statue in the Calgary Zoo, in front of the Elephant Crossing Exhibit. Since the zoo is publicly funded by taxpayer dollars, the zoo is accountable to taxpayers, a segment of whom we represent. The statue we are referencing is the statue of Ganesh, the Hindu "god" known to Hindus as “Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles”. You can see a full description of this idol here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh.
 The zoo is not a place of religious indoctrination, it is supposed to be a safe family environment free of religious icons and selective religious partiality. The displaying of different gods in a public place, like this, is an offence to our beliefs and does not represent the diversity of views that should be reflected, if the zoo is embarking on teaching the public about world religions as they relate to the natural world. If, in fact, the zoo is on a quest to expose people to different religious viewpoints, which I presume atheists would take exception to, the zoo should not be selective and exclusive. Therefor, if this is the intent, I make a proposal that a display be erected including the cross of Jesus Christ, the ten commandments (as seen in the old testament of the Bible - Exodus 20) Noah's Ark, and a display sharing the Biblical Creation view of nature's origins which reflects our Christian beliefs and the beliefs of our nations forefathers.
The display of foreign gods is offensive and does not reflect the views of the majority of Canadians. Today we make a request that unless the Calgary Zoo is willing to expand their exhibits with the proposed additions we outlined above, that the zoo would in fact maintain its former state of being neutral with respect to religious beliefs and backgrounds by not displaying any religious icons, idols, or texts within its grounds.
We know that this must have been an oversight and are confident that those individuals who receive this formal request will review this request with all soberness and will act quickly in restoring the zoo to its former family friendly and religiously neutral state.
This letter represents the view of many Christians and Christian organizations. We humbly await your response.
A copy of this letter is being sent to all of Calgary's aldermen and to Calgary's mayor, to members of parliament, and to the media.
Sincerely,
Jim Blake
National Chairman
Concerned Christians Canada
http://www.concernedchristians.ca
(403) 690-4636
Praying, Acting, Making a Difference!
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 September 2009 )
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Street church in court for preaching in parks |
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Written by ChristianWeek News
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Thursday, 10 September 2009 |
By Emily Wierenga | Thursday , September 10 , 2009
CALGARY, AB—A group of ragtag missionaries from Calgary are on trial for giving out food and using an amplifier to spread the gospel amongst the city's 5,000 homeless.
The court case, which began May 20, has been extended to the fall in order to try 80 bylaw charges and provincial offences incurred over the last three years by the Street Church. The date for the case's re-opening has not been set.
"We're hoping the judge will hear the gospel, and everyone else in the court," says 47-year-old Bogdan Stobiecki, a who leads the ministry alongside Artur Pawlowski, 36.
Defence lawyers Rebecca Snukal and Michael Bates say the tickets received by the ministry for everything from jaywalking to giving away free goods and services in a park without a permit violate its constitutional rights.
"The real issue is freedom of rights and freedom of association," Bates told press during Pawlowski's hearing, which stretched from the scheduled six days into eight.
Pawlowski testified that the nature of the Street Church ensured amplification as an essential part of his freedom of religion. Meanwhile lawyers for the City of Calgary argued that Pawlowski's religious rights didn't include the need to amplify his voice. The results of the hearing will be announced in October.
Calgary's Street Church, which ministers weekly to upwards of 1,000 homeless, was founded in 2002 when Pawlowski and Stobiecki began sharing the gospel in parks and bars. By 2006 the group had mushroomed to 200 volunteers and multiple ministry locations. Today, in spite of being banned from local parks, the church continues to serve four days a week on the steps of City Hall.
Dubbed the "loudspeaker preacher," Pawlowski says he is familiar with oppression, having fled Poland as a young man.
"Coming from a communist regime, seeing soldiers and tanks on the streets, witnessing minority ruling over majority with destruction, loving Canada with all my heart, having my own family and house in this country, being in the perfect will of my Father in heaven, I have an obligation to stand for what is right," says Pawlowski, father of two.
"To preach the gospel like Jesus commanded and tell people about the ways of the Lord so they can have peace and righteousness."
Both Pawlowski and Stobiecki have struggled with alcoholism. Stobiecki, who has done missions in Europe, Russia and Israel, says, "Jesus has told me to go and share the healing I've received with these people. He came to heal the broken-hearted, and there are so many broken-hearted on the streets. They run from the memory of what has been done to them."
The homeless are those who have fallen into life's ditches, he continues. The goal of the Street Church is to help them up.
And, in spite of the current trial which could forbid the church from ministering anywhere in the province, that goal remains steadfast.
"We believe that the justice system is still just, and that they will give our freedoms back," says Pawlowski.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 September 2009 )
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City Officials Threaten with Another Injunction |
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Written by Artur Pawlowski
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Wednesday, 09 September 2009 |
City Officials Threaten with Another Injunction
Freedom of Speech Under Siege
September 9, 2009
In a recent show of arrogance, 11 city officials came to a Street Church event, including City lawyer David Louis and City Hall corporate security, threatening Street Church Ministries with court injunctions preventing all peaceful demonstrations and all other operations on the streets of Calgary, including feeding the poor and providing the basic necessities of life to the homeless. Street Church Ministries says that the blatant bigotry against Christians is growing and is intolerable in a city where tolerance is supposed to be supreme.
“Calgary officials are so on fire for 'tolerance' when it comes to left wing minority groups to the point of flying the flag of the homosexual community on masts in front of City Hall which are supposed to be flying flags of our national and provincial associations, indicating where our city's loyalty lies. They are going out of their way, breaking protocols and standards, to please some, while at the sametime are doing all that they can to oppose the public display of the very Judeo-Christian values that made our nation strong. I am interested in when the City will raise a flag for the Muslim Congress, or a Jewish Synagogue, or for that matter a flag for Jesus Christ”, stated Artur Pawlowski lead pastor, Street Church Ministries.
The ministry indicates that City officials are acting irresponsibly and seem to be operating on an anti-Christian agenda. Perhaps they have a point. After all, City police have protected the peaceful protests of homosexuals during their pride parade, marijuana activists during their marches, neo-nazis during their white supremacist marches, yet they have done just about everything possible to shut down the public work of this peaceful ministry that cares for the underprivileged. Perhaps some questions do need to be asked.
“Today I am asking a few of questions of our elected City officials, including the Mayor, Dave Bronconnier, 'Do you think you are dictators in your private castles, or servants of the public? Isn't high time for accountability and isn't this truly a time to look closely at just how far we have moved away from the roots of our democracy that made this nation strong and free? What ever happened to standing on guard for thee?'”, questioned Mr. Pawlowski.
Many say that it is right for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and respect, and as fellow human beings we are all created equally and do deserve equal respect. But there comes a point when fair debate in any matter, where opinions diverge greatly, can turn hot and get heated up. Such was the case recently at the steps of City Hall after the pride walk in Calgary. Homosexuals without provocation maligned and attacked Street Church volunteers during a church service for the poor.
“The homosexual community repeatedly asks for more and more. More freedom, more tolerance, more rights, more this, more that, yet at the same time, there are some very visible and vocal activist homosexuals who are not honouring the rights of Christians. We desire nothing but good for those individuals who identify themselves as homosexuals, yet on Sunday September 6, 2009 they came to our peaceful demonstration, after their pride walk, and violently opposed us, mocking us, cursing at us, and even having to be restrained from burning down our 'Jesus is King' flag. Obviously tolerance is merely a word bandied about for their own gain as a weapon used against others to gain acceptance for their lifestyles, but not out of a true desire to be mutually tolerant. I am all for tolerance, but tolerance for all, equally applied”, stated Artur.
One thing is certain, if the City succeeds with their plans to place more injunctions against Street Church Ministries, they will be well on their way to creating a dictatorship, in our 'fair' city. Free speech is a basic fundamental of a free and democratic society and represents healthy and necessary discourse allowing all citizens to publicly air their deeply held convictions and opinions. Without this fundamental right, there no longer remains a fundamental mooring upon which democracy may stand.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 September 2009 )
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Testimonies !!! |
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Written by Artur Pawlowski
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Sunday, 23 August 2009 |
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I just HAVE to tell you something. I was helping Susan (your friend) and Netty (not sure how to spell name), with giving out clothes to people there. Anyway, I saw this guy leaning on back of Arts truck, I didn't know him from Adam, and you know what I mean. All of a sudden I walked over to him and said “is your name Peter?" He said yes, and then I asked him if he was about a 36 inch waist he said yes. Then I handed him a brand new pair of jeans. He looked at them and back at me in amazement, I sat and talked with him for a few minutes, then all of a sudden he was in tears he couldn't believe someone did this for him. Then he grabs my hand and was in total tears by now, and then he hugs me again. When he let go , I told him I was out here on streets just 2yrs ago myself, and if it wasn't for the help of Street Church, and coming to know the lord I would still be that lost soul also. Anyway, I walked away and felt so awesome from what I just experienced so I told Wendy about it , Brenda I can't believe how I felt after this "IT WAS AWESOME"! .I felt like I was so high, but not on drugs, it was a great feeling. I thought Brian was going to tell me to shut up because the whole way back by bus I couldn't quit talking about this. Anyway, I tried phoning you to tell you, but you didn't answer so that is why I am sending you this now. I talked to Wayne (Phil’s dad) about it and he said I just had a prophetic experience. Brenda, I am so high up right now about what happened that I really don't think I will be sleeping. I have never had anything like this happen to me before.
Vivian Leask
Hello,
My name is Nick Lee. I would like to introduce myself. I was born again by the blood of Jesus Christ in 1996 in Seoul, Korea. I emigrated to Calgary in 2001 and lived three years till 2004 and move to Toronto, and I got back to Calgary in April, 2007. Calgary sure has changed dramatically. It became much more dangerous place to live in certainly there are more homeless people. I have worked at a gas station near a homeless residence on Centre Street, and encountered many homeless. Whenever I observed their behaviours I was surprise the extent Satan holds their souls. Thought there is not the slightest hope for them. I met two men tonight which I first thought were homeless on Centre Street. However, I soon realized they were all born again and God's belongings. I saw true peace, happiness, gratefulness, hope, love, appreciation, reflection about their past. Their appreciation to Jesus was bigger than mine who have been Christian more than 20 years. They wanted pray for me from the bottom of their hearts. The first thing I did when I got back home was accessing to this web site. I never realized that Street Church existed. I saw how Satan fearfully attacks this fellowship by the weapon of city's law and authority. I definitely want to contribute this fellowship as much as I can. Thank you so much for doing it for them. (God is certainly using you guys right now to rescue these people's soul) Don't forget God and Holy Spirit are with all of you, he will protect you from this world's hatred, please never give up. I am going to attend the meeting soon, I would like to know how many people are usually coming for each event, how many of them have saved, what you guy need right at this moment, that i can be a little help. Thank you again. I thank God and Jesus once again.
Nick Lee
Dear Rev. Artur Pawlowski,
Christian greetings in the mighty name of Jesus our Lord and saviour. Maybe you feel surprise why I know you and your ministry. I found you and your ministry in the Internet; there I found your own website. I am also glad to be able to contact you and your ministry. Rev. Pawlowski, can you also extend your ministry here in my country the Philippines, by conducting a pastor’s church leader’s conference and evangelistic crusade here in my city and the region. I believe that through your ministry, you can bless and encourage the pastor, church workers and even the churches here in my country. I do believe also that you have lots of spiritual truths that you could share and impart to the body of Christ here in the Philippines. I also believe that your ministry today is one of the instruments of God, who can bring healing and spiritual revival to the hearts of our people here and that our people also are hungry and thirsty of His word and in His presence. So, I am inviting you Rev. Artur Pawlowski to come to the Philippines, ministering the word of God to my church and the churches that are belong to my leadership and supervision. May the Lord continue to bless you and your ministry. I am looking forward to hear from you.
Your Co-Labourers,
Pastor Advento Philippines
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 23 August 2009 )
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