John Sewell is continually getting involved, often as the initiator, in local issues which need a better resolution. Some continue for many years, some achieve their purpose and are concluded, some are less effective and are abandoned when it seems they will not be successful. Several are summarized below: Toronto Police Accountability Coalition; Lifeline Syria; Economic Inequality, Safe and Streets.
TPAC
For more than a decade, John has been actively involved in the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition.
TPAC is a group of about a dozen individuals with different interests who meet at least monthly to talk about policing issues and think about what actions can be taken to change police policy....Read More »
Lifeline Syria
John was a founding member of Lifeline Syria (lifelinesyria.ca) a group which is encouraging Toronto residents ( and other Canadians) to sponsor Syria refugees in Canada. John was mayor of Toronto when the Boat People –refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were welcomed – more than 60,000...Read More »
Economic Inequality
Occupy Wall Street brought questions of economic inequality to the fore in 2011, but the movement seemed unable to develop and popularize an agenda that was taken up politically. That task was one that John thought should be is addressed by someone, and in late 2011 he brought a...Read More »
Safer Streets
In 2011 John was approached by several people working with the homeless, and asked if I could assist in reducing the number of tickets being issued by Toronto police to homeless people for violations of the Safe Streets Act, mostly under the sections of that act prevent `aggressive’ panhandling.
A Freedom...Read More »