* INVITATION:
"Charity Bizarre" Small Press, Fair Trade & Social Justice Fair
Sept. 24-25, 2005 @ the Red Strap Market
part of the 2005 North of Nowhere Expo (Sept. 16-30)

Breaking News - Sept 22 - In honor of the International Day of Action Against the War we've decided to open up Saturday's after party to the public. Doors open 9pm and feature the great singer/songwriter trio Declan- lead Peter Atherton is frequently referred to as (a male) Ani Difranco or Jason Mraz. Also featuring spoken word poets and more. If you've ever wanted to meet local small press, artists and activists now's your chance - so pls come on by and hang out for a beer and some casual conversation... Free Admission to all.

September 10, 2005 - Go figure, we just had another big computer crash. Charity Bizarre participants who have already registered are asked to kindly re-send their registration info to us at northofnowhere@shaw.ca or call 434-9236 for more info. If all else fails, don't worry you are booked (so just show up Saturday morning). Thanks!

Local NGO's, NPOs, Unions, Fair Trade Merchants, Artists & Performers are invited to participate in the North of Nowhere Expo "Charity Bizarre" as part of our Festival of Independent Media & Underground Art

WHEN: Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 24-25 from NOON - 5pm set-up 10-11am Saturday, tear-down 5pm Sunday)

WHERE: Red Strap Market, 10305 97 St., Downtown Edmonton (directly across the street from courthouse)

WHO: Local Non-Profits & NGOs, individual artisans or artist's collectives; unions & for-profit businesses who support fair trade initiatives

WHY: To celebrate our own activities, offer the community some diverse shopping opportunities outside of the mainstream, and in the case of NPOs, fundraise to support your good work!

DEADLINE TO CONFIRM PARTICIPATION: Friday, Sept. 16 (deadline extended due to computer crash)

COST: $15/Table for All when tables supplied by us (These tables limited to 25 so book early!) $10 if you bring your own table (lots of space available) Fees will help cover the cost for venue/equipment rental & advertising; fees can be paid on-site

OTHER: tablers can leave their merch/set-up overnight (RS is a secure facility) but we recommend you bring sheets to cover your tables with; there is plenty of parking directly behind the market

Any groups/individuals wishing to provide educational workshops or skillshares are welcome to call us and submit a proposal - we will do our best to accomodate your request.

* IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE, PLEASE SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING INFO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE:

SEND INFO TO: Owen c/o North of Nowhere Expo: (780) 434-9236 / email

FILMS BEING PRESENTED AT THE FAIR:

SAT, Sept. 24 DAY:
We are using the Expo as another opportunity to re-present some of the films which were featured at our "Small Act, Big Impact!" Fair Trade Fair in May 2005.

Today's films include:
1pm: FILM: Sweating For a T-Shirt
Global Exchange
1998, 20 min.
This is a well-produced documentary and call to conscience and action. It centers on college students enjoying their latest T-shirts oblivious to the exploited workers in Honduran maquilas or clothing factories where garments are produced. The workers sew and work at a furious pace to meet quotas of 300 garments a day for wages of $3 a day. The documentary turns on efforts by the producer Medea Benjamin and her daughter, Arlene, trying to get to see conditions inside a Honduran clothing factory. They are fended off by the owners' agents. (Despite that, they managed to shoot high-quality footage of workers frantically striving to meet their quotas.) Workers who seek to unionize are threatened with jail or simply fired. There are no health benefits; children leave school to work and are then too exhausted to continue at night schools that they can't afford anyway. The video ends with scenes of protests against the sweatshops by U.S. union organizers and students. From one spokesman we learn that a cap that sells for $20 at a college store yields but eight cents for the person who sewed over it. We also hear of some encouraging actions by colleges such as Brown University that have committed to doing no business with exploitive factories.

2pm: FILM: Mickey Mouse goes to Haiti
Nat'l Labor Committee
1996, 19 min.
Focuses on workers in Haiti who were making 28 cents per hour to produce clothing that Disney sells in the U.S. These workers earn too little to buy food, to build decent housing, or to have any hope of escaping the terrible poverty that is nearly unimaginable to the consumers who buy the clothes they make. Points out that twenty thousand workers in Haiti are employed as contract garment workers for U.S. corporations. In this moving film, several workers risk being fired to describe their inhuman working and living conditions. Throughout the film, they urge viewers to encourage Disney to provide a living wage, support, and benefits to their workers in Haiti. A sensitive portrait of the result of corporate exploitation of workers in developing nations. Good quality of information. Fair quality of production. Age level: Jr. High and older.

3pm: FILM: Betrayed: The Story of Canadian Merchant Seamen
by Elaine Briere
2004, 56 min.
Although Canada is surrounded by three oceans, there is not a single deep-sea ship flying the Canadian flag today. Sixty years ago, Canada had the 4th-largest merchant fleet in the world. Canadian ships brought vital supplies to Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. The men sailing those ships were war heroes who suffered terrible losses. Their union, The Canadian Seaman's Union (CSU), brought the 8-hour day, sick leaves and pay increases to an industry known for low wages and brutal working conditions. After the war, when the Liberal government of Louis St. Laurent began to privatize the merchant fleet, the CSU strongly opposed the sell-off. The Canadian government and shipowners initiated a campaign to discredit the CSU. It was a time of fear, confusion and betrayal. This documentary tells the little-known struggle of merchant seamen to save the merchant fleet and their livelihood. It traces the history of Canadian shipping from the international strike of 1949 to the globalization of coastal shipping in Australia by Canada Steamship Lines - owned by the family of Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.

* UNRELATED NOTE: Between September 24-26th 2005 there will be a massive mobilization in Washington, D.C. calling for an end to the war. see website


SUN, Sept. 25:
Today's films include:

1pm: FILM: Something To Hide
Nat'l Labor Committee / Crowing Rooster
1999, 25 min.

Today in the global economy, corporations hide their production around the world behind locked factory gates, armed guards and 15-foot high concrete walls topped with razor wire. The companies refuse to release to the American people the names and locations of the factories they use. What are they trying to hide? In this film US students visit El Salvador's maquilas. A good resource for university-based campaigns. Produced by the NLC and United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS).

2pm: FILM: After Cancun: Free Trade or Fair Trade
Jeremy Wright
2004, 30 min.
After Cancun features Maude Barlow, Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, giving a full 'behind the scenes' account of why the Trade Talks collapsed at Cancun, and contrasted in the video with the views of Pierre Pettigrew, the then Minister for Trade. The fundamental differences between "Free" Trade" and "Fair Trade" are discussed with examples drawn from the Cancun Fair Trade Fair, and features Chantal Havard, Transfair Canada; Jeff de Jong, Cocoa Camino; and Nicole McGrath, Peridar.

3pm: FILM: Zoned for Slavery: The Child Behind the Label
Nat'l Labor Committee / Crowing Rooster
1995, 23 min.
(Translated to English, Kreyol, Spanish)
An investigation of very young working women in the Free Trade Zone in Honduras and consequences on their lives due to exploitation (below subsistence wages, lack of access to education, health hazards, forced contraception, denied freedom, harassment, etc.). A National Labor Committee (NLC) representative speaks about workers' actual wages, the cost of production(e.g.: 12 cents for a 20$ Gap shirt), the US tax support for free trade zones, and the pressure on companies to produce in free trade zones and the effect on American workers. The NLC representative looks at the wider economic impact of paying low wages (trading with people earning wages below the subsistence level is impossible). Detailed interviews with workers. Heated discussion with management as the representative gets caught asking workers questions without management's permission.