Last Sunday wrapped up the Human Rights Conference in Winnipeg. For Genevieve Babineau of Alberta, for whom this was her first UNE event, the conference blew away her expectations.
“I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more,” said Babineau. “I met a lot of good people. It was a great networking opportunity.”
Babineau said she also learned a lot more about the union during this conference.
“The union’s role isn’t just to sit there and hear complaints – there’s activity going on all the time to make things better.”
Related: Were you at the Human Rights Conference? Please fill out our survey.
For the B.C.-Yukon region, the conference was a chance to raise money for a good cause. They used Nadine Kirychuk’s award-winning painting to create buttons. These were sold to raise funds for Sisters in Spirit; a branch of the Native Women’s Association of Canada that aims to put a stop to the growing number of missing and murdered aboriginal women.
“We started selling them for $3 each,” said Regional Human Rights Representative Steve Houston (B.C.-Yukon). “And then we thought, ‘if we just sold them by donation, then people could give $20 a button.’”
“And some people did, actually.”
Houston mentioned that at one point, signed copies of the buttons were going for $10 each.
“I think people had fun with it,” he added.
And speaking of fun, the hospitality suite became another place to raise money for this important cause. Assistant Vice-President for Human Rights Daniel Toutant said he never expected to find a grand piano in the hospitality suite.
While Toutant was cranking out some tunes on the piano on the first night, a member placed a tip jar on the piano.
“I said ‘no, this money won’t be for me. Everything we raise, we’ll donate to Sisters in Spirit,’” recounted Toutant.
On Saturday morning, Toutant woke up with a better idea: he was going to start charging $2 per song.
“At one point, I had a choir of 20 people around me,” he said.
“It was an incredible success. People were singing – just thinking about it, I still get goosebumps.”
While pianists typically take 20-minute breaks to rest their fast-moving fingers, Toutant played from 8:15 p.m. to midnight on Saturday night. But even if he woke up the next day with his fingers still numb, he would do it all over again.
“In my entire career as a pianist, it was the best experience of my life.”
In fact, if there’s a piano in Victoria, Toutant says he’ll do the same thing to raise money for a local battered women’s shelter.
Related: There are pictures of Piano Dan in action on Flickr.
In the end, conference participants raised more than $4,000 to end violence against our aboriginal sisters.
Fundraising aside, the conference was a great place for participants to expand their knowledge of human rights.
“I was very happy with the weekend. I found that everybody participated.” said National Vice-President for Human Rights, Karoline Klüg. “It was most amazing.”
After one of the workshops Klüg facilitated, she was surprised to see discussions continuing well into the break. And even if the sessions ran late a few times, participants didn’t bail; they were still engaged – totally enthusiastic.
“I found the engagement of our participants totally inspiring.”
For conference first-timer Genevieve Babineau, the experience solidified her desire to get involved with the union. She was elected as a convention delegate and as the first alternate human rights representative for Aboriginal Peoples.
“I think the people who were there weren’t there because they thought it was cool, but because everybody at one point or another experienced something unpleasant in the workplace,” said Babineau.
“Everybody I talked to had an amazing story of courage. I thought: wow, I’m not the only one.’”
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