Make 2012 the Best Year yet for Skepticism, Secularism and Freedom of Thought - Apocalypse or Not!
On behalf of the Centre for Inquiry Canada - Le Centre Pour l’Enquête, thank you for helping make 2011 an amazing year for our shared values: skeptical inquiry, freedom of thought, and secular humanism. We would like to encourage you to make a tax-deductible charitable donation and renew your membership (extending it by 12 months from its expiration date) at this time.
Apocalypse or not, 2012 is going to be the best year yet for the Centre for Inquiry Canada! We can’t offer you a revelation, but we can unveil our vision for the next year, which grows on the amazing accomplishments your funds have been supporting.
We coordinated the Canadian Atheist Bus Campaign across 5 cities: Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto and in spring this year Kamloops and Kelowna. We fought to complete the latter campaign when the ads were stolen. In 2012 - at long last – the Centre for Inquiry will bring you ads featuring the slogan “Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence: Allah * Bigfoot * UFOs * Homeopathy * Zeus * Psychics * Christ”.
We’ve pushed relentlessly for the secularization of public education by hosting protests, debating on TV and radio, and presenting before government committees. In 2012, we’ll take advantage of a unique situation. The Centre for Inquiry Canada will push harder than ever to defund Catholic schools in Ontario, which are now seen as archaic for banning gay student clubs and economically wasteful in difficult financial times. We’ll push for separation of church and state on that issue and many other important issues across Canada.
We hosted Homeopathy Awareness Campaigns in key cities, promoting evidence-based medicine.
This fall, the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons’ policy on Complementary/Alternative Medicine was revised - thanks to lobbying by CFI’s Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Skepticism and its allies. The final policy removed a requirement that physicians propose alternative medical treatments, as well as a prohibition on physicians from critiquing Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
More of everything in 2012!
• More national tours with celebrities of the freethought movement, like our recent James Randi talks
• More conferences, like the recently launched annual National Secular Supper, part of our Reason for a Change Convention in the capital.
• More videos on our Think Again! TV YouTube channel, like our behind the scenes look at a Peter Popoff faith healing event
• More political advocacy. We’ll ramp up our campaign to meet with key politicians.
• More community events for our local branches to promote reason, science and skepticism
You can support our work by making a tax-deductible charitable donation and renewing your membership. The Centre for Inquiry Canada is a registered educational charity for tax purposes. You can renew and/or donate at http://www.cficanada.ca/support (with or without a paypal account), by phone, or by mailing the included form to our office. Memberships are great gifts for skeptics!
Please also consider spreading out your donation over time by setting up a regular pledge. A regular pledge is the best way to help us grow sustainably into 2013 and beyond. Contact us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 416-971-5676 to discuss your contribution options.
We hope to see you at events and thank you for your continued support of the country’s leading voice for humanists, skeptics, and all freethinkers.
Justin Trottier, National Outreach Coordinator
Michael Payton, National Executive Director
Board of Directors of the Centre for Inquiry