Write for Rights

The Sisters of St. Joseph have enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Amnesty International, a global organization focused on upholding human rights. That relationship continues through the annual visit from their leadership to us. This year Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General for Amnesty International Canada’s English-Speaking section, came to speak to us about their mission. Since 2012, the Sisters of St. Joseph have participated in the world’s larges human rights campaign, Amnesty’s Write for Rights. Write for Rights is a global letter writing campaign to fight injustice and support those whose human rights are threatened. Participants from around the globe write letters of support for those who face threats of violence and imprisonment for who they are and what they stand for. These letters put pressure on governments and leaders by showing them that the eyes of the world are watching and will not accept inaction. By writing letters to leaders and those in need, participants of Write for Rights fight injustice and protect those who advocate for change.

This year, our Write for Rights event was open to Sisters and staff who proved the might of the pen! Our words and actions supported five causes - four abroad and one right here in Canada. We supported three activists facing imprisonment and violence: Dang Dinh Bach (an environmental lawyer in Viet Nam), Şebnem Korur Fincancı (a human rights defender in Türkiye), and Manahel al-Otaibi (a women’s rights supporter in Saudi Arabia). We also supported systemic change by writing for Kyung Seok Park and Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, a disability activist group in South Korea. Here in Canada, we supported the Wet’suwet’en land defenders who continue to fight to protect the environment and their ancestral lands from the construction of a fossil fuel pipeline, even in the face of criminal charges.

Pre-made letter writing packages were available for pick up on November 22 and a sit-in writing marathon event was held on International Human Rights Day, December 10th. Filled with a passion for change and delicious treats, Sisters and staff put their hands and hearts to work and wrote letter after letter. In total, 266 earnest letters were carefully written by Sisters and staff! Thank you to all who attended in person or submitted letters in advance.

The Write for Rights event was a smashing success and, supported by our prayers, we know our letters and petitions will enact change.

-Rhiannon Allen-Roberts & Sarah Morrison

Our Office for Systemic Justice: A Letter to Premier Doug Ford

Our Office for Systemic Justice cites ethical concerns with legislation aimed at dismantling encampments.

December 9, 2024

Dear Premier Ford,

Recently, you proposed legislation to grant municipalities and police expanded powers to dismantle homeless encampments.  You also indicated your willingness to use the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms if courts block the implementation of the legislation. You indicated your intention to give municipalities "the tools they need" to restore public order and safety, including measures to enhance penalties for trespassing, explicitly ban open drug use in public spaces, and enhance enforcement capabilities.

While no one thinks that encampments are an adequate solution, there are significant ethical concerns with this proposed legislation and, more widely, with this approach to homelessness: 

• Despite your government's promise of new funding to increase shelter beds for people being removed from dismantled encampments, it is clear that crowded shelters are part of the problem, not a long-term solution. Many people prefer living on the street, or in parks, because they find shelters unsafe, stressful, and lacking in privacy. In addition, overnight shelters leave people with nowhere to go during the day. Furthermore, many studies have demonstrated that funding overnight shelters is more expensive than funding deeply affordable and supportive housing options.

• The notwithstanding clause should not be evoked to limit the rights and freedoms of people in vulnerable situations, particularly when there are more effective options for addressing the issues. The answers to homelessness are clear (see recommendations below). All that is lacking is the political will to invest in effective solutions. This is, at heart, an ethical issue for our society.

 Recommendations:

• An adequate response to homelessness requires the government to address the roots causes of homelessness. This means recognizing safe, adequate, and deeply affordable housing as a human right, and funding it as such. It also means providing supportive housing for people who require it.
  

• We know that providing housing is cheaper than providing emergency shelters, but the problem is the steep upfront capital costs for housing. This means that the effective solutions we all seek require significant and sustained investments from all levels of government. It also requires tackling other systemic issues such as punitively low social assistance rates, an inadequate minimum wage, and insufficient mental health and addiction resources. 

We urge you to be attentive to the Homeless Hub's Report on Encampments, which outlines a human rights approach. See Overview of Encampments Across Canada: A Right to Housing Approach.  The report identifies key principles which would urge your government to recognize the residents of homeless encampments as rights holders, and to engage them in meaningful ways to explore alternatives to evictions. These rights-based principles also require governments to design and invest in long-term solutions, as suggested in the recommendations above. 

Sincerely,

Sue Wilson, CSJ | Executive Director, Office for Systemic Justice

Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada

c.c. Minister Paul Calandra

Image of Homeless Jesus sculpture by Ashwini Chaudhary(Monty)

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Violence Against Women and Girls     

November 25 each year proclaims The International Day for Eliminating Violence Against Women. For me, it is a sad day as I read about the plethora of startling statistics from around the world documenting the horror of murders, attacks, and suffering of women in diverse countries, including our own. The 2024 United Nations report on this subject estimate that globally 736 million women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence. The Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability reported in 2022 that 184 women and girls in Canada were violently killed, primarily by men. One woman or girl is killed every 48 Hours. An average of 102 women and girls were victims of gender-related homicide per year in Canada. In 2009 the Canadian Department of Justice stated that 7.04 billion dollars was spent dealing with the aftermath of spousal violence alone. In countries such as Afghanistan, the freedom of women to study, work, travel, or be protected from violence is non-existent. 

However, public protests, stories, and reports have been effective in reducing sexual violence in Canada. Women’s persistence in reporting sexual abuse in universities and places of work has achieved results.  Complaints about police abusing women are now taken seriously.  Progress has been slow in changing, practices in the Armed Forces to provide justice for women, but there is progress. The “Me Too” movement has encouraged women to speak about abuse and demand justice. Women are more likely to complain of abuse and seek justice without being ignored.

I have observed how women have stopped abuse by changing themselves. Some women have told me how one day they decided that they would no longer tolerate spousal abuse. Their firm declaration of this brought an end to the abuse. A woman who ends an abusive relationship without changing herself is likely to repeat the pattern with a subsequent partner. On one occasion, I asked a client who was in an abusive relationship, how she had taught her first husband that it was all right for him to beat her up.  After a startled reaction, she exclaimed: “I guess I let him get away with it the first time”.  I asked how she stopped the abuse and she replied: “I left him.”  She then began to pay attention to how her failure to listen to what she felt or wanted left her open to the unreasonable demands and abusive treatment by others, including her current partner. Her decision to change brought results. She discontinued allowing herself to be the subject of abuse or the unreasonable demands of friends and relatives.

Women have been indoctrinated to be caregivers and prioritize the needs of others.  We cannot solve the widespread problem of violence against women but we can help women, particularly young women, to respect their own freedom and dignity so that they are less likely to be subject to abusive partners, friends, and relatives.

Today we unite to End Violence against Women. #NoExcuse

-Sister Patricia McKeon, CSJ

World Food Day - October 16th

image: Thomas Gamstaetter @thomasgamstaetter/Unsplash

World Food Day is a time to celebrate food in all its diversity and goodness. It is also a day to remember that many people, in our cities and in our world, are food-deprived, and even suffer hunger and malnutrition. How can this be happening in this beautiful world which produces enough food for all? Can our systems of food delivery be lacking? Can the will to feed all Earth’s peoples be amiss? How do we approach this issue when it is so complex and fraught with challenges?  

Over 820 million people worldwide suffer from hunger and 2 billion people face food insecurity, yet 1/3 of food is wasted. This is a moral, environmental, and economic disaster. Many people contribute to their local food bank or soup kitchen. Community gardens also help to address this problem at the local level; but as individuals and as a society, is it past time to examine our practices around sustainability, food systems and delivery, and consumption?  

World Food Day is a call to action; since 1979, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has highlighted the issue. Governments, businesses, and individuals must work together to feed the hungry and create a world where equality and dignity are respected and promoted. What is my response as I tuck into another wonderful nutritious and balanced meal? We do not need guilt; we need action. 

Questions to ponder:  

1. What is my protein footprint? 

2. Am I eating “local,” observing the 100-mile diet, as much as possible?  

-Sister Helen Russell, CSJ

September 30 - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

94 Calls to Action.  How Are We Doing?

On Monday, September 30, we will celebrate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day provides an opportunity to consider what progress we are making in remedying the harm caused by the policies and practices of settlers, and in creating a climate of respect and friendship among all of us.    

In December 2015, on the eighth anniversary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a Canadian Government statement asserted that over 85% of the 94 Calls to Action involving the Government were completed or well underway. However, according to Indigenous Watchdog, only 11 of the Calls to Action were completed and 39 were “in progress.”  At this time, seventeen years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report, there are still many of the 94 Calls to Action that have not been completed.

I suggest that we look beyond the 94 Calls to Action in assessing progress on rectifying the imbalance concerning the wellbeing of Indigenous people in Canada. We still have indicators that all is not well in our quest to reconcile relationships between our Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. However, in weighing progress on completion of the 94 Calls to Action, the prevalence of problems such as higher rates of incarceration, and reports of abusive treatment in hospitals of Indigenous persons contrast with indications that Indigenous members of our country are making significant progress as respected citizens, and that relationships between settlers and Indigenous persons are improving.

There are now many well-educated Indigenous persons who are writing books, teaching in schools and universities, negotiating land claims, providing health care services, exercising political power, and operating successful businesses.  I am aware that churches no longer disparage the culture and spirituality of aboriginal people; traditional aboriginal practices are incorporated into the teachings and liturgical practices of Christian churches. Efforts to educate non-aboriginal Canadians about the history and culture of our native population have effectively improved respect and altered attitudes.  Schools and colleges have been making consistent efforts to welcome Indigenous students and provide any services needed to support academic and social success.

We still have many hurdles to overcome in our quest to treat all aboriginal citizens with respect and to resolve issues such as economic disparity, settlement of claims for compensation of past wrongs, or ill-treatment of Indigenous patients in hospitals. But such issues are publicized now, regarded as unacceptable, and stimulate action to stop harm and promote justice.  There is a welcome change in attitudes towards our Indigenous neighbours and a growing population of competent aboriginal persons who  will no longer tolerate being treated as second-class citizens.

Let us celebrate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation wearing our orange shirts, attending local festivities, and extending friendship to our Indigenous neighbours.

- Sister Patricia McKeon

image: Denise Bossarte @dbossarte / Unsplash