Show Up Toronto - May 13th, 2025
Hi folks, happy Tuesday! I'm trying a slightly different format today: for events coming up in the next 7 days, I've included the full links and blurbs, but any events further out than that only has the headline and location. Hopefully this is easier to scan - let me know.
We now have accounts set up on Instagram and Bluesky (thanks to Val for helping with socials!). They're pretty quiet for now but I'm working on automated event reminders, so give those a follow if that's your thing. Fediverse account TBA!
As always, the best way to see all events is directly on the Show Up Toronto website. If you find this project useful, tell your friends to subscribe.
Thanks for showing up!
Jenny
Good things can happen: The members of the U of T Faculty Association passed a motion calling on the University Pension Plan to divest from weapons manufacturers amid record turnout. Five unionized Starbucks locations across Ontario won their first collective bargaining agreements with the support of United Steel Workers, including a location at Pape and Danforth.
Things you can do right now: The city is considering a by-law that would ban picketing and protesting near schools and places of worship, and in a city as dense as Toronto that effectively curtails the ability to protest in most of the city's downtown core and major streets. Call your city councillor (find your councillor), or contact them with Progress Toronto's form to protest this bylaw. Also, the Ford government is pushing through Bill 5, which exempts Ontario Place-related work from any public consultation, guts the Endangered Species Act, and gives the province unilateral power to exempt specific development projects from any provincial regulations to facilitate mining and extraction. Call your MPP (find your MPP, script here) and leave a comment on the Ontario Environmental Registry to protest this bill. There are also several events this week to support groups fighting one or both of these actions.
⭐️ = events added since the last newsletter
Events this week
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
⭐️ 12-1PM — Planning and Implementing 2SLGBTQI Events Amid Rising Hate (Virtual)
Hosted by Egale Canada - This webinar provides guidance on planning and hosting safer 2SLGBTQI events amid rising anti-2SLGBTQI hate, along with essential safety tips for attendees.
⭐️ 5:30-7:30PM — Phone Bank to Protect our Freedom to Protest (Virtual)
Hosted by Progress Toronto - City Council is considering a by-law that could limit our Charter-protected freedom to protest. Join Progress Toronto's phone bank and make calls to residents across Toronto to help them contact their local decision-makers to oppose the bylaw.
⭐️ 6-8PM — Volunteer to Protect our Freedom to Protest (York University)
Hosted by Progress Toronto - City Council is considering a by-law that could limit our Charter-protected freedom to protest. Join Progress Toronto's street canvassing crew to speak to residents across Toronto to help them contact their local decision-makers to oppose the bylaw.
6:30-8:30PM — RapidTO Dufferin Street Public Consultation (Virtual)
Hosted by City of Toronto - Public consultation on a proposed plan to expand transit capacity along Dufferin Street between Eglington West and King St West
⭐️ 7-8PM — The Ripple Effects of Draining Ontario's Wetlands (Virtual)
Hosted by Environmental Defence - Learn about the impact of abandoning protections and environmental laws for Ontario's wetlands and how it impacts wildlife, clean water, and flood protection, and what you can do about it.
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
⭐️ 4:30-8:30PM — Bathurst Street Transit Lanes Public Consultation (Humewood Community School, 15 Cherrywood Ave)
Hosted by City of Toronto - Drop in for a public consultation on adding priority transit lanes to Bathurst St between Eglington West and Lakeshore West.
⭐️ 5:30-7:30PM — Phone Bank to Protect our Freedom to Protest (Virtual)
Hosted by Progress Toronto - City Council is considering a by-law that could limit our Charter-protected freedom to protest. Join Progress Toronto's phone bank and make calls to residents across Toronto to help them contact their local decision-makers to oppose the bylaw.
⭐️ 5:30-7:30PM — Build Ontario Line Differently Community Meeting (Thorncliffe Park Community Hub, 45 Overlea Blvd)
Hosted by Build Ontario Line Differently - City-wide general meeting discussing the impact of Ontario Line on neigbourhoods it cuts through, including guest speakers and elected representatives.
⭐️ 6-8PM — Volunteer to Protect our Freedom to Protest (Woodbine Station)
Hosted by Progress Toronto - City Council is considering a by-law that could limit our Charter-protected freedom to protest. Join Progress Toronto's street canvassing crew to speak to residents across Toronto to help them contact their local decision-makers to oppose the bylaw.
Thursday, May 15, 2025
⭐️ 8-9:15PM — Parents for Child Care Organizing Meeting (Virtual)
Hosted by Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare - Organizing meeting to support $10-a-Day childcare, meet with other parents to discuss next steps in pushing newly elected federal government and Ontario government to protect and expand the plan.
⭐️ 12-1PM — Asian Pride: Queer Solidarity Against Anti-Asian Racism (Virtual)
Hosted by The 519 - Join The 519's Education and Training team to explore the impacts of anti-Asian racism, and how queer and trans solidarity can be a powerful force for change. Learn tools to recognize and challenge hate, and strategies for practicing allyship. Sliding scale.
⭐️ 12-1PM — Phone Zap Against Bill 6 (Virtual)
Hosted by SURJ Toronto - Join SURJ Toronto, the Encampment Justice Coalition, and the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society to call your elected representatives and tell them to rescind Bill 6, which criminalizes living outdoors and proposes a six month jail sentence and a $10,000 fine.
1-2:15PM — Talking Climate in Tough TImes (Virtual)
Hosted by For Our Kids - Re.Climate training director Ghadah Alrasheed teaches how parents can talk to other parents, schools, elected officials, and communities about why climate change matters to their kids' well-being and future.
6-8:30PM — Shay & Chat (Available upon registration (Toronto))
Hosted by Palestine Impact Collective - Monthly session providing a space for collective care, resilience, and safe advocacy for Palestine.
7-9PM — City Politics Trivia Night (Sin & Redemption, 136 McCaul St)
Hosted by Progress Toronto - A fun night of city politics trivia with comedian and Progress Toronto volunteer Kalin T. Spence. Pay what you can.
⭐️ 7-8PM — Phone Bank to Defend the Endangered Species Act (Virtual)
Hosted by Scarborough Environmental Association - Ontario's Endangered Species Act is under threat from Doug Ford's government. Join an info session with local environmentalists to hear about how the proposed changes would weaken protections for habitats and wildlife and learn how to participate in a coordinated phone blast to your MPP to demand they oppose teh repeal of the ESA.
⭐️ 7-8:30PM — Arts as Resistance: Zine making meetup (The 519, 519 Church)
Hosted by Tanita and 2Spirit and Racialized Trans Collective - Come build community while creating zines on self-care, love, and resistance. This is a masked space.
Friday, May 16, 2025
8-9:30PM — May Community Call Confronting Christian Supremacy: Part 2 Anti-Muslim & Anti-Palestinian Racism (Virtual)
Hosted by Christians for a Free Palestine - Part 2 in a series on Confronting Christian Supremacy, addressing the Christian roots of anti-Muslim hatred, its impact on US foreign policy, and its implications for Palestine.
Saturday, May 17, 2025
⭐️ 8:30-10AM — Live from Palestine: Nakba Day Freekeh Harvest (Virtual)
Hosted by Palestinian Cultural Arts Collective - Sharing the story of the Freekeh Preservation Initiative that began when Em Mhareb revealed she had rare heirloom wheat seeds—elheteye elsamra and Nab el Jamal—once widely grown, now nearly forgotten. Even after Em Mhareb’s land was taken by settlers at the start of the genocide, the work continued in a rented land in Taybeh, near Ramallah, keeping the legacy alive. $10 tickets, proceeds go to the project and Palestinian families.
⭐️ 1-6PM — Community Planting Day (Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute, 500 East Mall)
Hosted by Tkaronto Plant Life - Planting medicine, veggies, and herbs for the community farm. Learn how to transplant seedlings and build community through land and care in urban farming spaces. BIPOC youth participation highly encouraged.
2-5PM — March in Commemoration of 77 Years of Ongoing Nakba (Yonge Dundas Square)
Hosted by Palestinian Youth Movement - March alongside 15+ cities across North America in commemoration of 77 years of ongoing Nakba and 77 years of resistance and to show the ruling class that the world rejects Zionism.
Sunday, May 18, 2025
12:30-3:30PM — Mother's Day Celebrations (Scarborough Neighborhood Community Centre-WSNCC, 313 Pharmacy Avenue)
Hosted by South Asian Women and Immigrants' Services (formerly known as SAWRO) - A Mother's Day celebration event that also aims to reflect the lives of mothers in Canada and back home through songs, drama, dance, and storytelling. Community members will also lead discussions on challenges faced by immigrant mothers.
⭐️ 1-3PM — 30th Annual Taylor Massey Creek Clean-Up (Farlinger Ravine Trail)
Hosted by Scarborough Environmental Association - Come together to clean a one-kilometre stretch of the Taylor Massey Creek. All supplies provided, potluck and guest speakers after the clean-up.
Monday, May 19, 2025
⭐️ 12:30-1:30PM — Zap 4 Palestine (Virtual)
Hosted by Toronto Zaps For Palestine - Join with organizers from coast to coast in calling, emailing, and faxing demands to newly elected officials to stop Canada's complicity in the genocide.
5:30-7:15PM — Find Your Unique Role in The Resistance (Virtual)
Hosted by On Canada Project - A paid workshop to identify how to get politically activated and learn how to contribute to the resistance with the skills and relationships you already have. Sliding scale tickets available.
Down the road
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
⭐️ 6-9PM — Where to Find the Best Third Spaces (CSI, 720 Bathurst)
7-9PM — Ontario Organizing Meeting (Virtual)
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
7-8:30PM — Together We Fight: Ending Anti-Asian Racism and Supporting the Resistance of Asian Massage Workers (Virtual)
Thursday, May 22, 2025
⭐️ 5-7:30PM — Know Your Rights: Beginner Legal Training Workshop (Wildseed Centre, 24 Cecil St)
Friday, May 23, 2025
6-8PM — Toronto Spring Meeting (Trinity-St. Paul's United Church, 427 Bloor St W)
⭐️ 7-10PM — Free Community Screening of The Encampments (Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor St W)
Saturday, May 24, 2025
⭐️ 1-6PM — African Liberation Day (163 Queen St E)
Monday, May 26, 2025
⭐️ 12:30-1:30PM — Zap 4 Palestine (Virtual)
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
⭐️ 6-7PM — Asian Pride: Queer Solidarity Against Anti-Asian Racism (Virtual)
Saturday, May 31, 2025
⭐️ 3-9PM — Community Donation Drive for Gazan Families (Centre for Social Innovation, 192 Spadina)