![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.une-sen.org\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/wrap_up_HRC.png\" "\\"wrap_up_HRC\\"")
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Last Sunday wrapped up the Human Rights Conference in Winnipeg. For Genevieve Babineau of Alberta, for whom this was her first UNE event, the conference blew away her expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI laughed, I cried, I laughed some more,\u201d said Babineau. \u201cI met a lot of good people. It was a great networking opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Babineau said she also learned a lot more about the union during this conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe union\u2019s role isn\u2019t just to sit there and hear complaints \u2013 there\u2019s activity going on all the time to make things better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Related: Were you at the Human Rights Conference? <\/strong>Please fill out our survey<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For the B.C.-Yukon region, the conference was a chance to raise money for a good cause. They used Nadine Kirychuk\u2019s award-winning painting<\/a> to create buttons<\/a>. These were sold to raise funds for Sisters in Spirit; a branch of the Native Women\u2019s Association of Canada that aims to put a stop to the growing number of missing and murdered aboriginal women.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started selling them for $3 each,\u201d said Regional Human Rights Representative Steve Houston (B.C.-Yukon). \u201cAnd then we thought, \u2018if we just sold them by donation, then people could give $20 a button.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd some people did, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n Houston mentioned that at one point, signed copies of the buttons were going for $10 each.<\/p>\n \u201cI think people had fun with it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n And speaking of fun, the hospitality suite became another place to raise money for this important cause. Assistant Vice-President for Human Rights Daniel Toutant said he never expected to find a grand piano in the hospitality suite.<\/p>\n While Toutant was cranking out some tunes on the piano on the first night, a member placed a tip jar on the piano.<\/p>\n \u201cI said \u2018no, this money won\u2019t be for me. Everything we raise, we\u2019ll donate to Sisters in Spirit,\u2019\u201d recounted Toutant.<\/p>\n On Saturday morning, Toutant woke up with a better idea: he was going to start charging $2 per song.<\/p>\n \u201cAt one point, I had a choir of 20 people around me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an incredible success. People were singing \u2013 just thinking about it, I still get goosebumps.\u201d<\/p>\n While pianists typically take 20-minute breaks to rest their fast-moving fingers, Toutant played from 8:15 p.m. to midnight on Saturday night. But even if he woke up the next day with his fingers still numb, he would do it all over again.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my entire career as a pianist, it was the best experience of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, if there\u2019s a piano in Victoria, Toutant says he\u2019ll do the same thing to raise money for a local battered women\u2019s shelter.<\/p>\n Related: There are pictures of Piano Dan in action on Flickr<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n In the end, conference participants raised more than $4,000 to end violence against our aboriginal sisters.<\/p>\n Fundraising aside, the conference was a great place for participants to expand their knowledge of human rights.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very happy with the weekend. I found that everybody participated.\u201d said National Vice-President for Human Rights, Karoline Kl\u00fcg. \u201cIt was most amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n After one of the workshops Kl\u00fcg facilitated, she was surprised to see discussions continuing well into the break. And even if the sessions ran late a few times, participants didn\u2019t bail; they were still engaged \u2013 totally enthusiastic.<\/p>\n \u201cI found the engagement of our participants totally inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n For conference first-timer Genevieve Babineau, the experience solidified her desire to get involved with the union. She was elected as a convention delegate and as the first alternate human rights representative for Aboriginal Peoples.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the people who were there weren\u2019t there because they thought it was cool, but because everybody at one point or another experienced something unpleasant in the workplace,\u201d said Babineau.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody I talked to had an amazing story of courage. I thought: wow, I\u2019m not the only one.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n