Write for Rights!

On December 10, 2014, the Sisters of St. Joseph in London gathered to trim the Christmas tree and join in a world-wide letter writing marathon.

Every year, for the past three years, the Sisters in London have participated in Amnesty International’s Write for Rights. This event is always held on December 10, which is International Human Rights Day. This day marks the signing of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948.

This year is the 66^th anniversary of this ground-breaking document which has been translated into almost 500 languages and which is the foundation of human rights world-wide. Interestingly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted by a Canadian, John Peters Humphrey. The United Nations Commission which saw the document signed by the nations of the world to become international law included Eleanor Roosevelt.

This year, the Sisters of St. Joseph wrote 47 letters for human rights. The letters demanded a national plan of action to stop violence against indigenous women in Canada; the release of a Chinese woman Liu Ping who was imprisoned this year for organizing a protest against corruption; and the opening of Canada’s borders to more Syrian refugees.

The Sisters also signed a petition demanding the end to torture. You can learn more about how to join in the campaign to stop torture here http://www.amnesty.ca/stoptorture

To read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, visit http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Mary Kosta

FULL CIRCLE … BUT NOT QUITE

In 1967, ten aboriginal students from a Residential School near Winnipeg earned the honour of collectively running 800 kilometers with the torch that would open the Pan Am Games. As they arrived at the entrance of the stadium to what would be the cheers of the crowd, the torch was taken from them and given to non-aboriginal runners. The boys were given money to buy lunch before they got on a bus to return to their Residential School.

In 1999 at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, the men were invited to carry the torch into the stadium in a gesture intended to undo the injustice of thirty years earlier.

Fast forward another 15 years. The young boys, now nearly 70 years old came to Guelph for the premiere of the film, FrontRunners, which chronicles their story. They spoke of abuse and deprivation. They spoke of how the experience of Residential Schools has affected their intimate relationships. They also spoke about the healing they experience in having their story received.

Some stories continue to reveal primary truths.

• There is always the possibility to write a new chapter of a story.
• We carry the weight of some distressing stories all our lives. “We’re sorry”, while meaningful, does not fully repair damage done.
• The capacity for human truth-telling and for reframing of our stories makes artists of us all.

For more information: http://www.anglican.ca/relationships/resources/niiganibatowaad

Niigaanibatowaad: FrontRunners Movie Trailer

Margo Ritchie CSJ

Recovering Democracy : Our Task as Citizens

There is a disconnect between government, citizens, and their elected representatives. Low voting rates, social media, Idle-No-More, Occupy Wall Street, and anti-pipeline protesters on BC’s Burnaby Mountain indicate that many of us believe that our Government is unresponsive to its citizens and to the welfare of society. 

Parliamentary democracy was established on the principle that members of parliament represent their electors and are responsible for calling government, i.e., the prime minister or provincial premier and his or her cabinet, to account. Thus they are to act independently in choosing a leader. Changes in the past century have resulted in leaders being elected by their political parties and being thus perceived as responsible to the party, not to members of their caucus. Increasingly power has been centered in the leader on whom members rely for nomination, promotion, recognition, or continued membership in the caucus. Brent Rathgeber was compelled to resign from the Conservative Party for refusing to amend his private member’s bill on public salary disclosures. Bill Casey was expelled from this same caucus in 2007 when he opposed a bill which violated the Atlantic Accord regarding the rights of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to oil and gas revenues. Mr. Casey has criticized the Conservatives for actions such as instructing members how they are to vote in committees or having staff bureaucrats script “responses” in Question Period which are not answers but simply attacks on the opposition.  Mr. Casey is now the new Liberal nominee in a Nova Scotia riding for the coming federal election.

Back benchers speak from “talking points” rather than conviction; aware of their lack of power, they avoid honest debate or even attendance in Parliament. Many politicians leave Ottawa on Thursday or early Friday to spend time with constituents, tending to requests, concerns and complaints because the power of constituents to re-elect them outweighs fruitless efforts to make a difference in governing our nation. Powerful corporations and lobby groups rather than ordinary MPs influence policy and governance. Is it any wonder that cynicism has replaced respect for politicians and that our most qualified citizens are reluctant to enter politics.

And yet, recent events portend hope of a return to a situation in which leaders are accountable to elected representatives rather than MPs or MPPs being accountable to the leader. MP Michael Chong has received support from all political parties with his private member’s bill which posits new rules for riding nominations and provision for MP’s to remove a leader by secret ballot. In Manitoba where Premier Greg Selinger’s conflict with his cabinet led to resignation of several ministers, Mr. Selinger has been forced to back down with a promise to hold a leadership convention in March, 2015. All of us need to support a return to democracy by using our voices and pens to hold our elected representatives accountable for their actions on our behalf. If we want our most ethical and capable citizens to govern Canada we have to demand changes that will restore the rightful place of those whom we choose to represent us.

Pat McKeon CSJ

Dispelling Stereotypes

All too frequently the media depicts a narrow, standardized image of Muslims which robs them of their individuality. This particular stereotype also serves to reinforce a negative portrayal of Muslims. Recently, another Sister and I had the opportunity to visit London’s Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration. This centre, commonly called MRCSSI, exists to develop more culturally appropriate supports and services among agencies and within society as a whole. The purpose of our visit was to present a donation on behalf of my religious community in support of their creative Reclaim Honour project.

The MRCSSI website points out that the Reclaim Honour project is an engagement and awareness project supported by the Status of Women Canada that works to promote honour and prevent violence against girls and women through community support. Reclaim Honour is a grassroots approach to fostering a more complex understanding of the issue of gender based violence. The project’s twenty-two young women are working with several of their male counterparts empowering civic community members by creating opportunities for dialogue and positive action.

As part of our time together we had the opportunity to view the video, “A Tapestry of Voices”

This presentation is a collective spoken word piece collaboratively written at a workshop held by Reclaim Honour with young Muslim women in London. Each line represents facets of the collective as well as a unique voice of a Muslim woman, a Muslimah. This powerful video presentation celebrates the many strengths, vibrant diversity and dynamic identities of Muslim women. It dramatically underscores the unfair burden we place on individuals when we hold stereotypes.

Muslims quickly became individuals as we had the opportunity to chat and share with the project’s young animators as well as the centre’s Executive Director and Project Manager. This experience reinforced for me the absolute need to find other opportunities to meet Muslims as individuals.

Nancy Wales CSJ

Energy East is all risk, with few rewards for Canadians

Energy East is a proposal by TransCanada Pipelines to create a network of old and new pipelines stretching over 4,500 km from southern Alberta to New Brunswick. TransCanada wants to use Energy East to ship 1.1 million barrels of tar sands oil a day.

If approved, Energy East would be the largest oil pipeline project in North America. It would even be larger than Keystone XL, another controversial TransCanada proposed pipeline. This mammoth pipeline would put over 125 communities, including 52 First Nations and Métis communities, at direct risk of an oil spill. And, it would put the water of millions of Canadians at risk.

Energy East is not a made in Canada oil solution. Most of the oil would be exported. Energy East is expected to export between 800,000 - 1,000,000 barrels of unrefined oil out of Canada every single day. That’s the equivalent to filling nearly 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools with oil – every day.

TransCanada will try to convince Canadians that this risky project is in Canada's interest. To help provide the public with insight on the truth about this project, Environmental Defence has put together this handy poster to show how Energy East is all risk, with few rewards for Canadians.

Help Environmental Defence spread the word about the risks of Energy East. Share the link to the poster on Facebook and Twitter. Print it out and put it up in your workplace, local businesses and libraries. And if you haven't yet, raise your voice about the risks of Energy East. Take action here.

To learn more about Energy East, and the work of Environmental Defence, visit: www.RejectEnergyEast.ca

Guest Blogger: 

Liza Smithies
Senior Development Officer

116 Spadina Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2K6
Tel: 416.323.9521 x260 | Toll Free: 1.877.399.2333 | Fax: 416.323.9301
web: environmentaldefence.ca | twitter: @envirodefence | facebook: EnvironmentalDefenceCanada

We are Canada's most effective environmental action organization. We challenge, and inspire change in government, business and people to ensure a greener, healthier and prosperous life for all.

Environmental Defence is 30! To kick off our anniversary year, check out this special blog and this video about our dedicated team.