Come and enjoy a hyggelei (cosy) potluck dinner with a few other Unitarian church members and friends at the home of Melody Mason (in Kitsilano) this coming Thursday, June 29^th. RSVP to ucvhygge@gmail.com

Space is limited. Learn more about hygge dinners.

The evening will include a salon-style discussion about civil liberties.

Melody is on the board of the BC Civil Liberties Association. She’s concerned about, among other things, collection and retention of data by governmental agencies, the state of our prison system and privacy issues especially as it relates to the internet.

She’s interested in both sharing her own knowledge including BCCLA’s stance on these issues and also hearing from you about your take on these important issues and how UCV can engage with these issues.

The BCCLA’s policy director, Michael Vonn, has spoken at UCV Forums including the assisted dying issue.

BCCLA’s current priorities are working on solitary confinement, reforming the assisted dying act and data privacy and retention of data by government agencies. Also an issue Melody feels would be of interest to you is Anti-SLAPP legislation. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (“SLAPPs”) are when Big Resources (private or public sector) sue Little Resources (individuals, non-profit organizations) in order to silence them.

You can learn more about the work of BCCLA at https://bccla.org/

Michael Vonn, policy director, has been in the news over the past couple of days about Bill C-24. https://bccla.org/2017/06/extraordinary-victory-citizenship-equality/

Melody feels Unitarians will be interested in the work of BCCLA in protecting ciil rights and hopes we might support some of the issues through actions such as letter writing to senators and members of parliament.

Come and discuss. It’ll be an interesting evening!

Melody is on the Environment Committee and ushers on the first Sunday of every month.

You can hear Michael Vonn on CBC IDEAS in the afternoon next Monday.

Monday, June 26
POLICING: OLD COPS, NEW EXPECTATIONS Counter-terrorism, fighting cybercrime, policing highly diverse societies:

Can the police do it all? Should the police do it all? Do the police want to do it all? Cal Corley, CEO of the Community Safety Knowledge Alliance, and former Assistant Commissioner with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Inspector Shawna Coxon, Toronto Police Service; Micheal Vonn, Policy Director, B.C. Civil Liberties Association; and moderator Ron Levi, Director of the Munk School’s Global Justice Lab, weigh the implications, the challenges and the trade-offs for the police, for justice and for all of us.