Windsor Law alumna Marion Overholt (LLB 1981), executive director of Legal Assistance of Windsor and Community Legal Aid, will be honoured for her social justice advocacy this weekend during the national conference of the Council of Canadians.

Overholt and Pat Noonan will receive awards as activists of the year during “ImagiNations: Reframing our Collective Future” at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts. Overholt will also join a panel discussing the conference theme.

The Council of Canadians is a non-profit social action organization. Its conference will explore a number of issues, including:

• strengthening public health care,
• protecting water and the environment,
• achieving justice for Indigenous peoples,
• creating opportunities for young people,
• restoring democracy and civil society, and
• negotiating fair trade agreements.

“We can say without a doubt that Canadians want change,” says Maude Barlow, national chair of the Council of Canadians. “But what kind of change? And how can ordinary people help make it happen? More than ever we have to work hard to ensure that progressive voices are heard and that our values are upheld.”

A public forum Friday reflecting on the federal election results and what they mean for Canada will feature keynote addresses by Unifor national president Jerry Dias, Ryerson politics professor Pamela Palmater and economist Gordon Laxer, as well as Barlow.

Admission to Friday’s 7 p.m. forum is “pay what you can,” with a suggested donation of $15. Conference fees include lunch and offer a reduced rate for youth, seniors, and those on fixed incomes.  Find details, including registration and a full agenda, on the conference website.

When John Borrows’ ancestor signed a treaty with the Crown in the mid-19th century, he did so believing that huge tracts of land in southern Ontario would be held in trust for his descendants—that didn’t happen.

Dr. Borrows, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria, says he became interested in law partly as a result of his family history.

A member of the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation, he will deliver a free public address entitled “Learning from the land: Outdoor legal education and Indigenous law,” Thursday, October 22, in the Moot Court, Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law Building.

This event, the distinguished lecture of the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, begins at 4:30 p.m. Organizers ask that those planning to attend confirm in advance by e-mailing Cristina Corio at ccorio@uwindsor.ca.

The Campus Bookstore has named Jonathan Franzen’s 576-page novel Purity its book of the week. It is reduced in price to $25 from $35 through October 25.

The best-selling author of The Corrections and Freedom, Franzen presents a grand story of youthful idealism, extreme fidelity, and murder. He follows lead character Purity “Pip” Tyler through landscapes as contemporary as the omnipresent Internet and as ancient as the war between the sexes.

The Campus Bookstore is located on the lower level of the CAW Student Centre.

A new recipe from Paolo Vasapolli, executive chef in Food Services, combines favourites from the local harvest—tomatoes, cucumbers and melons.

“Be sure to use tomatoes ripened on the vine,” Vasapolli says. “It makes all the difference to the flavour, and we’re lucky to be able to get them from farms right here in Windsor-Essex.”

His take on tomato-melon salad serves four.

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 medium vine-ripened tomatoes
• 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cantaloupe, peeled and diced
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• dried oregano, optional
• 1 bunch arugula

Directions

1. Mix the tomatoes, cucumber, melon and red onions in the oil, vinegar, and spices and let that sit for five minutes.
2. On a serving platter, lay out the greens.
3. Add the seasoned fruits and vegetables on top. Serve immediately.

Vasapolli notes that cooks can also add avocado and cut everything into cubes rather than wedges.

“Make a puzzle salad and finish it off with a drizzle of balsamic reduction,” he says.