Fonds F0463 - Latin American Working Group (LAWG) fonds

Open original Digital object

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Latin American Working Group (LAWG) fonds

General material designation

  • Textual record
  • Graphic material
  • Sound recording
  • Moving images

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

F0463

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

Physical description area

Physical description

ca. 7.1 m of textual records and other material
ca. 203 audio cassettes
ca. 24 audio reels
ca. 13 video cassettes
ca. 4800 slides

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Name of creator

(1966-1997)

Administrative history

The Latin American Working Group (LAWG) was an independent, grassroots organization in Toronto, Canada, which carried out Canadian-Latin American solidarity activities from 1966-1997. Formed in response to the military coup and invasion of the Dominican Republic by the United States of America in 1965, LAWG's mission was to educate Canadians, develop solidarity links between Canadians and the peoples of Latin America, and advocate for an independent Canadian foreign policy. LAWG carried out activist research regarding the roles played by Canadian corporations and government aid policies in Latin America by working closely with union, churches, non-governmental organizations and academics in the North and the South hemispheres committed to human rights and social justice. It contributed to the creation and work of the Taskforce on Churches and Corporate Responsibility, the Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America (ICCHRLA), the Central American Policy Alternatives (CAPA), the Roundtable for Peace, Mission for Peace, Canada-Chile Solidarity, Tools for Peace, Linking Ontario and Central American in Labour Solidarity (LOCALS), Common Frontiers, and other initiatives aimed at changing Canadian foreign policy. LAWG worked with several Canadian trade union humanity and social justice funds to facilitate north-south educational tours involving workers, teachers, Christians, health workers, and those from other sectors, as a way of deepening Canadians' understanding of, and mutual solidarity with, others living in this hemisphere. LAWG worked to provide insights into the reality of Latin America that it felt was not being provided by either the Canadian government nor mainstream media. Its first-hand information and primary research was published in its newsletter "the LAWG letter," "the Central America update," "LAWG labour report," and several books critically examining the role of Canadian corporations such as Falconbridge and INCO in Latin America. Over its 30 year existence, LAWG played a significant role in influencing Canadian public opinion, and that of churches, trade unions, and government policy-makers in relationship to Latin America. There is no connection between this group and the group with the same name in the United States.

Custodial history

Scope and content

The fonds consists of meeting minutes, quarterly and annual reports, financial records, fundraising files, correspondence files (including with social activists in Canada and in other countries), documentation of advocacy work (including with trade unions, churches and religious groups, and other non-government organizations (NGOs)), oral histories and interviews, newsletters, slide presentations, press releases, brochures, research material such as news clippings and reports (including research on Canadian corporations), publications and reference library materials related to the activities of the Latin American Working Group.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Deposited by LAWG in 2004 and donated in 2005.

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English
  • Spanish

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

Access is open.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Finding aids

Associated materials

See also the records of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC), (F38).

The RCMP files relating to LAWG have been transferred to Library and Archives Canada.

Accruals

The fonds comprises the following accessions: 2004-016. No further accruals are expected.

Alternative identifier(s)

Standard number area

Standard number

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Control area

Status

Final

Level of detail

Full

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

2004/08/10 Sean Smith. Created.
2012/06/27 S. Dubeau. Added authorized provenance and subject access points; immediate source of acquisition; biographical sketch.
2012/06/27 A. St. Onge. Updated biographic sketch based on article from former member available at http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=4636. Added statement about access restrictions.
2015/08/12 S. Dubeau. Corrected creation dates and added extent info.
2015/09/17 S. Dubeau. Finalized description.
2019/06/13 KCP. Migrated from EES. Uploaded legacy file inventory as a PDF document.

Language of description

Sources

Digital object (Master) rights area

Digital object (Reference) rights area

Digital object (Thumbnail) rights area

Accession area

Related subjects

Related people and organizations

Related places

Related genres