Mark Vandermaas presents 'Listening to Victims: A Fresh Approach to Healing and Reconciliation' at 2010 'New Directions in Aboriginal Policy' forum, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta, May 05/10. Click image for forum info, video, presentations.
VoiceofCanada editor Mark Vandermaas is available to speak to your club, town council, class or organization about Race-Based Policing in Caledonia and what it means to you, your town, your province and your industry.
In addition to being VoiceofCanada’s editor, Mark is a former licenced real estate broker, a career he put on hold after he and Gary McHale were arrested on Dec 16/06 while trying to place a Canadian flag on a hydro pole in support of a Caledonia resident who had been earlier arrested for the same ‘offence.’
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National Post, Helpless excerpt #2 of 4, Nov 17/10: Christie Blatchford: Arrested for making the police look bad [PDF]
He is also the founder of the Caledonia Victims Project and was one of the orginal co-founders of Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (www.CANACE.ca) along with Gary McHale, Merlyn Kinrade, Jeff Parkinson and longtime Ipperwash community leader Mary-Lou LaPratte, all of whom are mentioned in Christie 
Blatchford’s groundbreaking book, HELPLESS: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, And How The Law Failed All of Us for their roles in opposing OPP racial policing policies.
Mark has documented the Caledonia crisis in over 400 VoiceofCanada articles, and has co-authored several in-depth reports documenting racial policing and land claim lawlessness. He has spoken out on behalf of both native and non-native victims of these policies. Mark and other CANACE founders have been cited and/or quoted by the Ryerson Review of Journalism and the Western Standard magazine.
He was an invited presenter at both the University of Waterloo, and at the 
2010 ‘New Directions in Aboriginal Policy’ forum at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, as well as a keynote speaker at the 2011 International Free Press Society/Free Thinking Films presentation of ‘Caledonia: No More Nightmares‘ in Ottawa.
As the project leader for The Ipperwash Papers, and lead author of the Regional News series, ‘McGuinty’s Ipperwash Cover-up: the Caledonia Legacy,’ Mark can also speak about events in Ipperwash from the residents’ point of view, and the dangerous policy failures resulting from the tragic decision of the Ipperwash Inquiry not to study the issue of violence against innocent residents during aboriginal land claim disputes.
Mark’s ‘Caledonia/Ipperwash’ CV
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Caledonia Victims Project: About – Mark Vandermaas
[photo, right, taken Oct 08/07 during Mark’s ‘Natives are victims of Two Tier Justice’ speech at pre-election ‘Remember Us’ March, Caledonia Lions Park ]
How to book Mark for your event
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For-Profit Organizations: Mark’s speaking fee is $1,000 per event plus reasonable expenses (only if overnight stay is required) – based on travel from London, Ontario.
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Non-Profit Organizations: Speaking fee is waived. In most cases, expenses will be waived if possible.
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Call Mark with your request at 519.457.0709 or send your request to info@voiceofcanada.ca. Include your name, address, phone number, name of organization, and the planned date of your event, or two tentative dates/times that would work for you.
Key background information & resources
- Christie Blatchford, Doubleday, 2010, 272p: HELPLESS: Caledonia’s nightmare of fear and anarchy, and how the law failed us all [LINK]
- Mark Vandermaas presentation at Caledonia: No More Nightmares event, Ottawa, March 22/11 [PDF, 36p incl. citations, Part 1 VIDEO, 15:05, Part 2 VIDEO, 14:50, Part 3 [VIDEO, 9:39]
- HelplessByBlatchford project: post-Helpless Reading List [LINK] (for policy researchers & journalists who have read Helpless and now seek to understand core issues, myths, lessons, solutions, historical background, etc.)
- Tekawennake News op-ed series by Gary McHale, Mark Vandermaas, Merlyn Kinrade & Doug Fleming, July 14-21/10: Healing Two Communities [PDF, 7p]
- Regional News series, Gary McHale, Mark Vandermaas, Mary-Lou LaPratte, Feb 18-25/09: McGuinty’s Ipperwash Cover-up: the Caledonia Legacy [PDF, 10p]
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National Post, Helpless excerpt #2 of 4, Nov 17/10: Christie Blatchford: Arrested for making the police look bad [PDF] (see also, excerpts 1, 3, 4)
- Caledonia Victims Project.ca
Thank you for your interest! Mark looks forward to meeting – and educating – your group.
www.VoiceofCanada.ca 
