Saskatoon will be seeing a new face and a new partnership for Turning the Tide bookstore. The recent demolition of Farnam Block forced it to close its doors after 11 years but plans were already in the works to build a community organizing centre.

“When we knew we were going to be evicted, it seemed like the perfect time for us to re-vision the role we could to play in the community,” explains Peter Garden, owner of Turning the Tide Bookstore. “We had always been active in social justice and environmental communities and had tried to offer a space for activism. But we were limited by our small space and our focus on information and education.”

Garden organized community consultations in the early summer of 2014 out of which emerged the idea for a new organization to be created, Treaty 6 Justice Collective, which would focus on supporting collective efforts advocating for social, environmental, and economic justice.

Turning the Tide bookstore and Treaty 6 Justice Collective have now come together to build a new space,  “The Stand – Community Organizing Centre,” will house the bookstore as well as provide meeting, event, and co-working space for organizations and community organizers. It is based on a social enterprise model and is located off Broadway Avenue at 615 Main Street.

“Saskatoon has always had a strong community working on justice issues,” comments Michelle Beveridge, a community organizer and one of Treaty 6 Justice Collective’s Board members. “But over the years, government defunding of justice-based organizations has decreased our access to places to meet and gather, while cuts to social programs and increasing threats to our environment have increased the need to organize for social change.”

The two organizations are launching a crowd-sourcing campaign today to support renovations for and create awareness of The Stand – Community Organizing Centre. The campaign can be found here.

Treaty 6 Justice Collective, Board of Directors

Peter Garden, Owner, Turning the Tide Bookstore

Michelle Beveridge, Communications Consultant and Community Organizer

Darrin Qualman, Food, Agriculture, and Energy Researcher

Alex Munoz, Executive Director, STR8 UP Inc.

Dawn Dumont, Comedian, Novelist

Bonnie Heilman, Executive Director, Kinship Community Development

Sandie Irvine, Turning the Tide representative and Artist

Lindsay "Eekwol" Knight, Hip Hop Artist and Activist

Colin Leinenweber, Owner, Agora Construction, carpentry and passive-house building

Click here for more News stories.