Originally posted on the Globe and Mail

June 8, 1948-August 28, 2014 Toronto’s social justice community is mourning the loss of a comrade, colleague and friend Bob Gardner. Bob passed away peacefully at age 66 at Toronto General Hospital with his spouse and partner in life Linda by his side. Predeceased by his parents General James and Joyce Gardner. Survived by spouse and partner in life Linda Gardner nee Lee, sisters Deborah and Dianne (John Firmino) Gardner, sister and brother-in-law Wendy and Larry Richardson, nephews Michael (Liz) and Stephen Richardson and niece Gillian Richardson Siegwart (Don), and great nieces and nephews.

Bob worked as Director of Policy at the Wellesley Institute for many years. He researched, wrote and spoke widely on health equity policy. He worked with governments, LHINs, service providers, and community partners across the GTA, Ontario, Canada and internationally to develop effective strategy and action plans. He served on many health policy advisory forums (Ontario Health Quality Council) working groups and boards. Bob has a PhD in sociology and worked as an academic (U of T, McMaster U, U of Guelph), public sector executive (Director Legislative Research Service, Ontario Legislative Library) and consultant. He was Senior Advisor, Parliamentary Research and Information Services, Parliamentary Centre where he worked around the world establishing parliamentary research units.

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Originally posted on Vancouver Sun

Heroes, Heartbreak & Hope: How AIDS made us better

“There were people who displayed remarkable courage then. People who lived and died by their promises and shared the intimacy of death, and then the world moved forward and grief subsided and lives moved on. But make no mistake, there are heroes among us right now.”— Mark King

Continue reading “Part 1 of an in-depth article about AIDS activism in Vancouver, 30 years after the first patient there” →

Originally posted on Media Co-op (Sudbury)

Recovering the history of direct action AIDS organizing in Canada

by Scott Neigh

Scholar and activist Gary Kinsman of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, introducing the film *United in Anger: A History of ACT UP* and talking about the new AIDS Activist History Project that he is working on with Alexis Shotwell of Carleton University in Ottawa. SUDBURY, ON — It was an era when rage and creativity won life-saving victories. Neglected by governments, scorned by much of the public, and facing rapid illness and death, in the mid-1980s people living with HIV/AIDS and their supporters began taking radical direct action in cities across North America. Yet this history is in danger of being forgotten.

Earlier this week, the screening of a film about the New York chapter of the direct action AIDS group ACT UP served as the first public event in Sudbury, Ontario, for a new project seeking to recover some of that radical history in the Canadian context. The work is being spearheaded by Alexis Shotwell, a sociologist at Carleton University in Ottawa, in collaboration with Gary Kinsman of Laurentian University in Sudbury.

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Originally posted on Ottawa Morning

Fear and confusion reigned during the height of the AIDs epidemic. Now a researcher is trying to find those who fought against discrimination during the hysteria.

Hear the interview here.

Orignally posted on Carleton Newsroom

Carleton University will receive more than $2.3 million in Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grants and Insight Development Grants. The funding is divided among 20 researchers covering a diverse range of projects and was announced by Greg Rickford, Minister of State (Science and Technology). The projects range from Unesco and photography and the sexual revolution to the history of painting in Britain to understanding AIDS as a political crisis.

Insight Development Grants support research in its initial stages. The grants enable the development of new research questions, as well as experimentation with new methods, theoretical approaches and/or ideas. Funding is provided for short-term research development projects, of up to two years, proposed by individuals or teams.

Long-term support for research is offered through SSHRC’s Insight Grants.

“As a research intensive university, Carleton is proud of its many nationally funded researchers and we are very pleased to see the commitment by the federal government to the social sciences and the humanities,” said Kim Matheson, vice-president (Research and International). “These newly funded projects at Carleton will help advance knowledge and understanding of important issues we all face as a society and will have an impact on bettering the lives of all Canadians.”

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