Hi friends and neighbours,

You may have noticed this newsletter is coming to you two days later than usual. This is because Show Up is switching to a Thursday send schedule! The reasons are boring and largely related to changes in my work life, but I am also hoping sending later in the week will let me catch more of the weekend events that don't get posted till a day or two before.

The final conversation event in the Wayfinding event series that I have been jointly hosting with my friends at 1RG will be next Wednesday. I am moderating this one! I'll be talking about work as a site of moral courage and collective action with Rafael Grohmann and Viet Vu, experts in digital labour and labour collectives. I'm really looking forward to the conversation and I hope to see you there.

The Ford government has announced that it is ending funding to supervised consumption sites. This news came on the same day that London Ontario reported 39 overdoses in 24 hours from suspected toxic drug supply. In Toronto, drug overdoses in January 2026 were up 50% compared to last year, following the closure of the majority of the city's SCSs.

It's been proven time and time again that supervised consumption sites save lives. Not only do they reduce overdoses, they're also a key touchstone to connecting the most marginalized in our cities to health care, social services, and human connection. The Ford government's demonization of people who use drugs is quite consistent with our Premier's general attitude that there are good people (business owners, landlords, cops) and bad people (tenants, activists, teachers) and good people are worth protecting and bad people are worth punishing. The more people get slotted into the "bad" category the fewer people they have to care about.

Every time I read news like this, which is basically every time I read the news, I wonder how this government—any government, everywhere—looks at the proven human harm they're causing and keep doing it anyway. We live in an age of elite cruelty and impunity and one of the biggest struggles is to not let this turn you cynical. Why should I try to do the right thing, when the people ruling over me so patently don't?

The only answer I have is that I don't want to live in the version of the world where I don't care about doing the right thing. I'd have to be a different person, to harden my heart against the human cost of these injustice, and I don't want to be that person. The fact that you're reading this means, I hope, that you don't either.

Thanks for showing up.

Jenny

Events this week

Thursday, March 19, 2026 🔗

11:45AM — Picket Kingsett Capital (King and Bay)
Parkdale Housing Justice Network - Despite Toronto’s pre-construction condo crash, KingSett Capital continues to speculate and hold on to the vacant lots at 214-230 Sherbourne. Join this picket line to call on Jon Love, founder of KingSett, to renew negotiations with Mayor Olivia Chow and city staff so that the city can purchase the site and build much needed social housing in the Downtown East.

1PM — Migrant Dreams Screening and Tal (401 Commons)
Shoesoffcollective, Justicia for Migrant Workers, Make Good, and Reel Asian - A screening of Migrant Dreams, a feature documentary that tells the story of migrant agricultural workers struggling against Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program that treats workers as modern-day indentured labourers.

5PM — Abolitionist Dialogue Circle (Hart House Music Room)
Hart House Social Justice Committee - An evening of reflection, dialogue, and imagining what safety, care, and justice beyond policing can look like in honour of the International Day Against Police Brutality. Hear from experts in community safety, prison reform, and evidence-based alternatives to policing.

5:30PM — Flyer for better transit at Bathurst Station (Bathurst Station)
TTC Riders - Come help hand out flyers and talk to riders at Bathurst Station about the federal government's $5 billion cut to public transit funding, and how they can take action to invest in a better TTC. No experience required, just show up!

6PM — Abolition Pub-Ed: Rania El Mugammar (Virtual)
Disability Justice Network of Ontario - Explore In Our Own Hands, a toolkit for family members, caregivers, educators, guardians, organizers and all those interested in equipping little ones in our communities to better understand the role of prisons and policing in our society, and to imagine more just alternatives.

6PM — CivicTechBrampton: BikeSpace and BikeHub (8 Queen St E, Brampton)
CivicTechBrampton - Inviting all technologists, students, and citizens interested in working on Cycling and Civic projects. Ben Coleman will present the platform and mobile phone app BikeSpace and Sonia Maset will present Brampton BikeHub.

6:30PM — Dismantling Racism – an evening with Cameron Davis (Virtual)
OPSEU - A virtual event with Cameron Davis as we learn, listen, and strategize on dismantling racism within our workplaces.

7PM — Book club—Civil resistance (Virtual)
Canadian Friends Service Committee - Have you been wondering about nonviolent resistance in Canada? Are you unsure if it would really work in the face of invasion, occupation, or other violent force? Join this new monthly book club to explore these questions, starting with Civil resistance: what everyone needs to know by Erica Chenoweth.

Friday, March 20, 2026 🔗

12:30PM — Who Governs AI? A Trans Feminist Perspective on Who Gets a Say (Virtual)
Cooperation Canada - Explore what AI governance is and how AI is being governed in Canada today. Using a trans feminist lens, investigate how power, resources, and access shape AI governance systems, where the key limitations are, and explore critical opportunities for improvement.

3PM — Fridays 4 Palestine (Yonge and Bloor)
Fridays4Palestine - Come show your support for Palestinians every Friday at the Israel Consulate. Stand up for human rights and say no to genocide.

5PM — Seeding Sovereignty: Language Revitalization (7 Hart House)
Hart House Farm - A conversation on language revitalization and how it serves as a fundamental source of sovereignty and a pillar of cultural resilience. Indigenous language is more than just a subject for a classroom, it is a vessel for traditional knowledge and land stewardship that has been passed down for thousands of years.

5:30PM — Phone Zap to Save OSAP (Virtual)
Toronto Young New Democrats - Students and families shouldn't have to pay the price for Doug Ford's failures. Join this phone zap to flood Conservative MPPs' voicemails with messages demanding they reverse cuts to OSAP and stop their plan to hike tuition fees.

Saturday, March 21, 2026 🔗

10AM — Repair Cafe and Remarket (2021 Lawrence Ave E)
Scarborough Zero Waste - Come to the Scarborough Citadel to fix your damaged clothing and faulty small appliances as well as jewelry! Volunteer fixers will welcome you and do their best to help you while showing you how to fix things the next time something breaks. Drop box for donation also available!

11AM — Time to Act – Year of the Volunteer (CSI Spadina)
Cuso International - An inspiring event all about volunteering and taking action – work together to sort and pack donated clothing for The Scott Mission. This is a drop-in, low-barrier volunteering opportunity open to everyone; no prior experience is required.

1PM — BDS Leafletting (900 Dufferin St)
Davenport 4 Palestine - Join Davenport 4 Palestine for the weekly BDS leafleting campaign at Dufferin Mall. Meet outside south entrance and buddy up – no experience necessary!

1PM — Volunteer for Renters’ Rights (Victoria Park Station)
Progress Toronto - Doug Ford’s government passed new legislation (Bill 60) that makes it easier for landlords to evict renters and make finding an affordable place to live even harder. Join Progress Toronto in knocking on doors inside rental buildings across Toronto to make sure Ford still feels the pressure for his threats to renters.

2PM — Postering Blitz in University-Rosedale for the Federal By-Election (Bathurst Station)
TTC Riders - Join a postering blitz in University-Rosedale for the Federal By-election, postering along transit and streetcar lines about the federal by-election and advocating for investing in a better TTC. No experience required, just show up!

2PM — No to CANSEC Committee Meeting (Available upon registration)
Toronto Against CANSEC Committee - If you are interested in joining a coalition of organizations to send a delegation to Ottawa to protest Canada’s largest weapons trade show, come chat! Even if you aren’t sure what you can contribute, sign up anyway.

2PM — Caribbean Community Study Circle (779 Bathurst St)
Caribbean Solidarity Network - Continue the discussion on the importance of studying and organizing around the lessons of the The Grenada Revolution with Chapter 5 of In Nobody's Backyard: Selected Speeches of Maurice Bishop 1979-1984 and The Caribbean People's Debt to Cuba by Tamanisha John and Kevin Edmonds.

Sunday, March 22, 2026 🔗

10AM — Virtual Tech Worker’s Coalition Coffee (Virtual)
Tech Worker’s Coalition Canada - Drop by for a virtual coffee hour on Sunday mornings to chat with fellow tech workers about what’s on your mind and to learn more about the Tech Worker’s Coalition. TWC considers anyone who is involved in the production and maintenance of digital technology to be a tech worker, whether you are a bike courier working at a food delivery app service, a designer, a software engineer, a product owner, a data labeller or a content moderator. Hope to see you there!

11AM — Tommy Thompson Park Cleanup (Tommy Thompson Par)
A Greener Future - Let’s show some love to Tommy Thompson Park. This cleanup is a simple way to take action locally: meet people, get outside, and make a real difference in our shared shoreline space.

11AM — Gaza Square (371 Wallace Ave)
Davenport 4 Palestine - Daveport 4 Palestine invites you to come hang out at Gaza square on Sunday mornings with hot chocolate and coffee, buttons and posters, lawn signs and colourful chalk. Come say hi and meet your fellow neighbours/organizers as they make their presence known and continue to build safety in their community!

11AM — Sundays 4 Palestine (Bathurst and Sheppard)
Sundays4Palestine - Weekly counterprotest to the Zionist community that comes out to celebrate the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Flags and signs provided.

12PM — Civic Space Sunday (1RG)
1RG - 1RG is opening their space to folks working on projects addressing civic challenges with technology. Whether you're already involve in an existing project, or you're looking at finding one to contribute to, join us for an afternoon of building.

1PM — Labour Zionism Part 3 (Virtual)
Labour for Palestine Canada - Hear from labour activists and academics, Dan Freeman-Maloy, Larry Haiven and Elizabeth Ha, to discuss the history of Zionist organizing in Canada, including in the labour movement, and how this informs Labour for Palestine’s organizing today.

1PM — What is Canada Doing to Our Home Countries? (Don Montgomery Community Centre)
Workers Alliance GTA - Do you live in Scarborough? Are you an immigrant, or child of immigrants? What is imperialism? And what does Canada, or any of our countries we were born in, or our parents were, have to do with it?

1PM — Queers 4 Palestine Printmaking Workshop (170 St Helens Ave)
Queers 4 Palestine - A workshop on printmaking using block-printing techniques on soft lino. Partcipants will learn how to carve and design their own prints to create protest placards for the Land Day rally. All materials will be provided!

2PM — What is imperialism in a so-called post-colonial age? (Virtual)
International Socialists - Can Marxism Show Us How to Save the World is a revolutionary reading group and study series. The topc for this session will be imperialism and colonialism.

Monday, March 23, 2026 🔗

12:30PM — Weekly Phone Zap for Palestine (Virtual)
Toronto Zaps For Palestine - Join with organizers from coast to coast in calling, emailing, and faxing demands to elected officials for a full two-way arms embargo to stop Canada's complicity in the genocide.

6:30PM — Whose Nation are We Building? (York University, HNES 142)
Change Course - The Carney government is financing projects like LNG, and so-called “critical“ minerals, and subsidizing them using your tax dollars. These projects, portrayed as being in the national interest, are wrecking the climate and violating Indigenous rights. Join a community conversation on how extractive projects are being de-risked and subsidized through recent federal policies.

6:30PM — How to Escalate Towards a Student Strike (OISE Room 8200)
U of T Communists - A huge movement is developing in Ontario. Thousands of students are angry, and looking to get organized to fight Doug Ford's OSAP cuts. The idea of a student strike is becoming more and more popular...but how do we actually get there?

7PM — From Scapegoating to Solidarity: Building Worker Power to Counter Hate (25 Cecil St)
Toronto and York Region Labour Council - Following years of rising racist, xenophobic, and hateful sentiments and movements in Canada and the world over, this year's International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will focus on unifying working people of all backgrounds around a common platform which builds worker power and rejects hate.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026 🔗

1:30PM — Hands Off Our Education Rally (Queen’s Park)
Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario - Students won’t be silenced or pushed around. They’re just getting started - and we won’t stop until this government puts people over profit. Let’s welcome Doug Ford’s Government back from their extended vacation with a bang! Join CSFON along with OPSEU and CUPE to demand an end to the privatization and cuts to public education and services.

4:30PM — Draw the Line Against Transphobic Violence in Schools (Virtual)
Egale - Draw the Line Against Transphobic Violence is a free, 90-minute, instructor-led webinar that helps educators and school personnel take action against harmful anti-trans dynamics, building skills for fostering cultures of consent, gender inclusion, and healthier relationships.

6PM — Volunteer for Renters’ Rights (St George Station)
Progress Toronto - Doug Ford’s government passed new legislation (Bill 60) that makes it easier for landlords to evict renters and make finding an affordable place to live even harder. Join Progress Toronto in knocking on doors inside rental buildings across Toronto to make sure Ford still feels the pressure for his threats to renters.

6:30PM — The Future of E-Bikes: Community Bikeways + Fix (Fix Coffee + Bikes)
Toronto Community Bikeways Coalition - E-Bikes are transforming urban transportation, offering a clean, affordable and efficient mode of travel, but any new technology comes with growing pains. Come for an evening of discussions on bike design, the existing regulatory regime and the future of e-bike regulation.

7PM — The Walrus Talks Opioids (Isabel Bader)
The Walrus - It’s been nearly a decade since the Ontario government released its official opioid strategy, but recent findings from the Office of the Auditor General and the Office of the Chief Coroner show the crisis continues to deepen. Come hear from experts and explore how policy, care, and community can transform lives amidst a drug toxicity crisis.

7PM — Civic Meetup - Headway Management Using Real-Time Transit Data (Hybrid)
Civic Tech Toronto - Civic Tech Toronto's weekly meetups bring together Torontonians who want to improve the city through design, tech, and data. This week, learn about a data-driven framework for mitigating bus bunching and gapping using real-time transit data, machine learning, and optimization models. Followed by project breakout sessions.

Wednesday, March 25, 2026 🔗

12PM — Food, Climate and Conflict: From Control to Annihilation of Food Systems in Gaza (Virtual)
Dalla Lana School of Public Health - This talk examines the long history of food system control in Palestine, including through constraints on climate adaptation efforts, and argues that what has unfolded in Gaza since 2023 represents a profound shift from mechanisms of control and constraint to the systematic annihilation of the food system and local ecologies.

5PM — Wednesdays 4 Palestine (Danforth and Pape)
Wednesdays 4 Palestine - Every Wednesday afternoon in East Toronto. Flags and signs are provided.

5PM — Wednesdays 4 Palestine (Danforth and Pape)
Wednesdays 4 Palestine - Every Wednesday afternoon in East Toronto. Flags and signs are provided.

5:15PM — Doorknocking for Palestine (Available upon RSVP)
Davenport 4 Palestine - Davenport 4 Palestine is doorknocking in the neighbourhood to mobilize neighbours in support of a real arms embargo. No experience is necessary, you'll be paired up with a seasoned doorknocker. RSVP by emailing at davenport4palestine@gmail.com.

6PM — Wayfinding: Work (1RG)
1RG - Wayfinding is a conversation series about navigating the tensions of tech in modern life. The session on art will feature a conversation between Rafael Grohmann and Viet Vu, moderated by Jenny Zhang, about work as a site of moral courage and collective action.

6:45PM — FilmSocial: Norma Rae (Eyesore Cinema)
Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education - This screening is part of the Leo Panitch School’s FilmSocial series of socialist film screenings. Norma Rae tells the story of a courageous worker and single mother who risks her job, relationships, and community to stand up to the bosses and organize her fellow workers at a crushing textile mill. Based on a real story of labour organizer Crystal Lee Sutton.

7PM — Fund Our Schools Town Hall (995 Arrow Road)
Fund Our Schools - Want to shape public education? Help guide your community? Push back against the catastrophic provincial takeover of our school boards? Join the #FundOurSchools Town Hall and share your vision for strong publicly-funded education.

7PM — We Show Up For Each Other TCJF Fundraiser (Virtual)
Resource Movement - From over-policing at rallies to Ford's recent injunction, we are seeing increased criminalization of Palestine solidarity and advocacy in Toronto. Our networks of mutual care and legal support must grow in tandem. Join a Toronto Community Justice Fund (TCJF) fundraiser and panel on mutual care and solidarity after an arrest.

8PM — P4CC Campaign Launch: $10 a Day Child Care For All (Virtual)
Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare - There’s less than one year to push our governments to deliver on what they promised. Join the Parents for Child Care’s campaign launch to demand $10 a day child care now!

Thursday, March 26, 2026 🔗

12PM — Rally at Queen's Park: Don't Bulldoze Our Future - Save Our Land and Water (Queen’s Park)
Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet - As Queen's Park session opens again, rally together with your fellow environmentalists to remind the current government about the immense damage to land and water that their legislation and policies are causing. Bring signs, noise makers, and a friend!

5:30PM — Phone Bank for School Meals (Virtual)
Progress Toronto - Mayor Chow and Toronto City Council have voted to expand school meals, but to feed all students, the Ford government must match the city’s investment. Join Progress Toronto in calling residents across the city to help them tell the Ford government to fund school meals!

6PM — CivicTechBrampton: Technologists for Democracy (8 Queen St E, Brampton)
CivicTechBrampton - Smart Billboards that are watching us? Autonomous vehicles with pedestrian facial recognition? What cna we do about it? ​Inviting all technologists, students, and citizens interested in working on Democracy, Surveillance and Civic Tech projects.

6PM — Abolition Pub-Ed: Community Justice Initiatives (Virtual)
Disability Justice Network of Ontario - A restorative justice 101 overview, building a foundational understanding of how it works in practice. Explore how referrals come into Community Justice Initiatives, what case flow looks like, and how participants’ healing and justice needs can be supported in meaningful ways.

6PM — Wage Theft Panel (Virtual)
Workers’ Action Centre - Join WAC for an online session at the George Brown Labour Fair, co-sonspored by Brock’s Department of Labour Studies. This panel will bring together real stories, research and insights into how you can stand up against unfair pay practices.

6PM — Bill 33 & the School—Prison Nexus (Virtual)
Women’s Health in Women’s Hands - A political education teach-in and knowledge mobilizer where Andrea Vásquez Jiménez will be delving into the landscape and terrains of policing-in-schools with a focus on Ontario Bill 33, its entrenchment of the School—Prison Nexus and the detrimental impacts on Black girls and gender non-conforming Black youth.

6:30PM — Ontario Budget Watch Party and Townhall (Virtual)
OPSEU - Join the Worth Fighting For campaign to watch the budget release live, talk about what it means for workers in Ontario, and hold the government accountable for meeting the demands of millions of Ontarians who rely on community and social services.

6:30PM — Global Solidarity: Why is Palestine a Labour Issue? (Sidney Smith 2105)
CUPE 3902 BDS Caucus - Join this session at the 21st Israeli Apartheid Week for a panel discussion on “Global Labour Solidarity: Why is Palestine a Labour Issue?”

7:30PM — Making Room: History of Homebuilding (It’s OK* Studios)
More Neighbours Toronto - ​Join historian Hana Suckstorff, PhD as we travel back in time to the early 20th century to explore the roots of, and possible solutions to Toronto's present housing problems.

Down the road

Friday, March 27, 2026 🔗

9AM — Better Medicare Health Summit (58 Cecil St)
3PM — Fridays 4 Palestine (Yonge and Bloor)

Saturday, March 28, 2026 🔗

9AM — Unity in Struggle Forum (Available upon registration (downtown))
10AM — Spring Tenant School (Hybrid)
10AM — Virtual Tech Worker’s Coalition Coffee (Virtual)
12PM — Reclaiming the Right to Learn: Student Projects from Gaza (Available upon registration)
1PM — Volunteer for Renters’ Rights (Islington Station)
1PM — BDS Leafletting (900 Dufferin St)
2PM — PALS Workshop – Data into Action for Palestine (Virtual)

Sunday, March 29, 2026 🔗

11AM — Gaza Square (371 Wallace Ave)
11AM — Sundays 4 Palestine (Bathurst and Sheppard)
1PM — Rally for Cuba (361 University)

Monday, March 30, 2026 🔗

8:30AM — Rally with Grassy Narrows (Fairmont Royal York)
12:30PM — Weekly Phone Zap for Palestine (Virtual)

Tuesday, March 31, 2026 🔗

7PM — Living with Drones - Scarborough (UTSC AC Lecture Theatre)
1PM — Webinar Addressing the Housing Crisis (Virtual)

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 🔗

7PM — LNG: Not In Our National Interest Campaign Launch (Virtual)
10AM — Beach Cleanup – Unsmoke Butt Blitz (Marie Curtis Park)
12PM — 2026 Ontario Budget review and sense-making session (Virtual)
5PM — Wednesdays 4 Palestine (Danforth and Pape)
5:15PM — Doorknocking for Palestine (Available upon RSVP)

Thursday, April 2, 2026 🔗

1PM — Dufferin Grove Cleanup – Unsmoke Butt Blitz (Dufferin Grove Park)
6PM — CivicTechBrampton: Civic Dashboard (8 Queen St E, Brampton)

Friday, April 3, 2026 🔗

7PM — PHP4P Community Meeting (Virtual)
3PM — Fridays 4 Palestine (Yonge and Bloor)

Saturday, April 4, 2026 🔗

12PM — University-Spadina Seedy Saturday (230 College St)
12PM — SURJ Public Meeting (TMU)
1PM — BDS Leafletting (900 Dufferin St)

Sunday, April 5, 2026 🔗

10AM — Virtual Tech Worker’s Coalition Coffee (Virtual)
11AM — Gaza Square (371 Wallace Ave)
11AM — Sundays 4 Palestine (Bathurst and Sheppard)

Tuesday, April 7, 2026 🔗

7PM — DSC Orientation (Virtual)

Thursday, April 9, 2026 🔗

6:30PM — Higher Education Organizing Meeting (College Street United)

For the full up-to-date event listing, visit the Show Up Toronto website. If you find this newsletter useful, I would love for you to:

• Forward it to a friend
• Tell me if you go to an event
• Send me other organizing events in the city I may have missed

You can reach me by replying directly, or by emailing organize@showuptoronto.ca.