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Kairos Times: July-August 2006 Vol 5, #6
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| (There is) the tremendous sophistication and collaborative
work that goes on in communities which are under siege and desperately
impoverished. And the backbone of all of this is the women of
Africa. |
-- Stephen Lewis, speaking about HIV-AIDS |
- A plea for a diplomatic solution in the Middle East
- The world gathers in Toronto for International AIDS Conference
- KAIROS is looking for a Refugee/Migrant Program Coordinator (Interim contract)
- All welcome to the KAIROS Fall Regional meetings
- KAIROS partner speaks to Standing Committee on International Trade on Canada- Central America Free Trade Negotiations
- Canadian roundtables on resource extraction—speak out!
- A note about the Pascua Lama mine email “action”
- National migrant justice gathering held
- UN Committee report raises concern about continued poverty in Canada
- New resources: Annual Report here and new campaign coming!
A plea for a diplomatic solution in the Middle
East
Over the recent weeks, we have seen the escalation of military conflict between Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. We are deeply troubled by these events, and pray for those who are suffering as a result. We join our voices with the many around the world calling urgently for ceasefire and a diplomatic solution before more lives are lost and more communities devastated.
Please consult the following for calls coming from our member churches and ecumenical partners (available as of July 21):
- Anglican Church of Canada
- Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
- Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP)
- The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund
- United Church of Canada
- Middle East Council of Churches
- Bat Shalom
- World Council of Churches
The current escalation began in Gaza and continues there. On June 30, 2006, we shared the call of Department of Service for Palestinian Refugees (DSPR). DSPR partners the world over were urged to press their governments to push for a diplomatic solution to resolve the episode of violence that threatened the life of a kidnapped Israeli soldier, countless civilians and Palestinian infrastructure.
The action described a situation where the Palestinians in the Gaza were increasingly cut off from necessary resources of life and where any existing infrastructure was being devastated. Since the alarming developments of the last weeks, this situation in the Gaza has become even more urgent.
We thank those who contacted their MP on this urgent situation, and ask everyone to consider taking a moment to phone or send a letter to their MPs and to Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, informing him of your concerns related to the alarming developments in the Middle East. Please remind him that it is now more urgent than ever for the Canadian government to re-state Canada’s commitment to a negotiated settlement to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the upholding and defending of international law. Contact information: Email: MacKay.P Telephone: 613 992 6022. Mailing address: House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6
To see the Gaza urgent action with its recent update, go to
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/urgent/uaGazaUpdate060721.asp
Please send copies of your letters to Hanadi Loubani, Middle East Partnerships Coordinator at hloubani or 1877403-8933x239.
The world gathers in Toronto for International
AIDS Conference
23,000 people from 130 countries are expected in Toronto August 13-18, 2006 for the 16th International AIDS Conference. On the eve of this event, from August 10-12, over 500 people from around the globe will gather at an ecumenical conference and interfaith day to share experiences, learn, and collaborate in faith-based work to eradicate HIV and AIDS. KAIROS is sending a small group to this ecumenical event and will lead some key workshops, working with member churches and global partners.
AIDS kills 8000 people a day and is devastating whole nations, and yet Prime Minister Harper has declined to open this important event focused on the AIDS crisis. In the recent meeting of the G8 leaders in St. Petersburg, Mr. Harper and his colleagues failed to reverse their history of inaction. Please consider writing to the Prime Minister right away to ask him to reconsider and announce new initiatives to fight the HIV and AIDS crisis at the upcoming International AIDS Conference.
To support your letter, KAIROS has a web site section devoted
to this issue with many resources, including a sample
letter to the Prime Minister, a dynamic
Flash (3Mb) and PowerPoint
(30Mb) presentation and newly published Global Justice Report entitled
G8 Inaction Betrays
People with AIDS (
),
featuring the results of a new study on the relationship between
high rates of HIV infections and heavy debt burdens.
To access this web section go to http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/economic/hivaids/index.asp
To obtain a print copy of the full 18 page study please see: http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/economic/GeJRVol5No2-3AIDS0606.pdf
or write to orders or leave a message at 1-877-403-8933 extension 246.
A summary of the results of the study on debt and AIDS was published in the July 14 edition of the Toronto Star. Click here to see a reprint: http://kairoscanada.org/e/media/press/opedAidsPromise.asp
For more information on KAIROS’ work on HIV and AIDS advocacy contact John Dillon, Global Economic Justice Coordinator at jdillon or 1-877-403-8933 x231 or Sara Stratton, Network and Campaign Coordinator at sstratton or 1-877-403-8933 x241.
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KAIROS is looking for a Refugee/Migrant Program
Coordinator (Interim contract)
KAIROS is looking for a creative, motivated individual to assist with our refugee and migrants program for an interim period to complete our two-year project “Widening Our Tents”. Please see our posting at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/support/jobRefugeeMigrant.asp and spread the word.
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All welcome to the KAIROS Fall Regional meetings
Every fall the KAIROS network’s five regions hold their
annual gatherings. If you want to know more about our work, catch
up with social justice work in your region, and get to know some
new friends, then join us! The flyer and contact information can
be downloaded (PDF format) at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/network/RegionalMeetingsFlyer06.pdf
For more information, contact Sara Stratton, Network and Campaign Coordinator at sstratton or 1-877-403-8933 x241.
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KAIROS partner speaks to Standing Committee on
International Trade on Canada- Central America Free Trade Negotiations
As a member of the Americas Policy Group (APG) of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, KAIROS has closely monitored the negotiations of the secret Canada-Central America Four Free Trade Agreement (CA4FTA), which includes Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Canada has been in and out of negotiations on the CA4FTA since 2001, yet citizens and parliamentarians in both countries have been denied basic information on Canada's negotiating positions and access to draft texts.
You can help make these secret negotiations more open! See our suggested action here: http://kairoscanada.org/e/economic/trade/ca4ftaAction0607.asp
Due to civil society pressure, the Standing Committee on International Trade agreed to hold a hearing on the proposed free trade deal on June 21st, one day before parliament adjourned for the summer.
Through KAIROS, the APG brought Salvadoran economist, trade activist,
and Hemispheric Social Alliance partner Raúl Moreno to Canada
to testify before the Committee. He spoke to the strong popular
opposition to free trade in the region, citing examples of how the
US-CAFTA will only bring more inequality by forcing privatization
of health care and other services. Read all about it in the latest
Trade E-Bulletin. http://kairoscanada.org/e/economic/trade/ebulletin/e-bulletin06v3i2-3.pdf
KAIROS-APG made its own joint submission and recommendations—see
http://kairoscanada.org/e/economic/trade/submissionCAFTA_APG0606.pdf
Before the hearing, civil society participants tried unsuccessfully
to deliver an Open Letter signed by close to 200 organizations across
Central America, Mexico, the US, and Canada. The letter demands
the release of the text and calls for full and informed debate.
To read the open letter go to: http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/media/letters/ltrJointCivilsocietyCAFTA060621.pdf
For more information contact Rusa Jeremic, Global Economic Justice Program Coordinator, rjeremic or 416.463.5312, ext. 225
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When Canadian companies work overseas, do Canadian
values follow?
Most Canadians are aware that extractive industries, including mining, oil, and gas, can have negative impacts on the environment, community development, indigenous peoples and workers’ rights. Not everyone realizes that when Canadian corporations go abroad, there are no accountability mechanisms in Canada to ensure that they abide by international human rights and environmental standards. Some companies cut corners to lower their costs and increase short-term profits, operating in ways that would be illegal or unacceptable at home.
You can speak out in support of legally binding regulations for Canadian corporations working oversea. This fall, take part in government roundtables on Canadian mining and oil and gas companies overseas! In 2006 the federal government is hosting four National Roundtables on “Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Sector in Developing Countries.” KAIROS is encouraging network and civil society members to attend or write to the public sessions of the next three Roundtables:
- Toronto (September 12-14)
- Calgary (October 10-12)
- Montreal (November 14-16)
For more information on how you can participate, please see: http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/corporate/roundTable.asp
For more information, contact Ian Thomson, Program Coordinator-Corporate Social Responsibility, 1 877 403 8933 x229, E-mail: ithomson .
A note about the Pascua Lama mine email “action”
Many people in the KAIROS network and beyond have asked whether it’s a good idea to sign a widespread email petition on the Pascua Lama mine in Chile. While this mine is an authentic project, and does indeed have Canadian backing, the action that is circulating is not helpful. Instead, we ask you to take effective action. Read on:
Mining Watch Canada has been monitoring the Pascua Lama/ Barrick Gold project and has asked people not to sign or circulate this particular “petition”. Firstly, email petitions that consist of adding your name to an email and forwarding should never be used. They have no legal standing, and are easily faked. (Petitions on a website are a different matter.) In the case of the Pascua Lama email now being circulated, the return address to which we are asked to send the names no longer works, and so adding your name is useless.
Personal letters remain the most effective way to communicate concerns when dealing with overseas concerns. And it’s also important to find a legitimate Canadian political or legal angle. In this case please visit the Mining Watch site and use their action letter, addressed to people who have the authority to stop this mine: http://www.miningwatch.ca/index.php?/Chile_en/Pascua_Lama_Action
Please pass this note on. We have received dozens of copies of this "action", and we would appreciate your help in directing people towards meaningful action on this important issue.
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National migrant justice gathering held
The National Migrant Justice Gathering, held June 10-11 at York University, brought together over one hundred migrants and migrant justice advocates from across the country to lay the foundations for a national migrant justice network in Canada. This unique initiative generated rich dialogue and sowed the seeds of new alliances, gathering together the concerns of live-in caregivers, seasonal agricultural workers and non-status immigrants, as well as the advocacy experiences of migrant organizations, faith groups, unions, community activists and university researchers. Strong participation from British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec was complemented by the international perspective of delegates from Hong Kong, Mexico, the Philippines, Taiwan and the United States.
The National Migrant Justice Gathering was a joint initiative of KAIROS, the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada, the STATUS Campaign and UFCW Canada. The goal of the organizers was to increase the impact of existing advocacy initiatives, many of them sector specific, by working to build alliances and develop a united voice on shared concerns.
Canadian and international delegates from the conference took the concerns expressed at the gathering to three days of meetings in Ottawa with Members of Parliament and bureaucrats. These lobby meetings opened up opportunities for more formal presentations in the fall of 2006 to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.
For more information, or to get involved in the migrant rights network, contact Tanya Chute Molina, Refugee and Migration Program Coordinator, at 1-877-403-8933 X 252. Alternatively, email tchute .
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UN Committee report raises concern about continued
poverty in Canada
On May 19, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights released their "Concluding Observations", a review of the Canada's performance in protecting the economic, social and cultural rights of its people since 1998.
While commending Canada for maintaining, on average, a high standard of living, it indicated its regret that “most of its 1993 and 1998 recommendations have not been implemented.” Specifically it reiterated concern about continued disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, the absence of a legally-enforceable right to adequate social assistance, the insufficiency of minimum wages and social assistance rates, and the continued claw-back of the child tax benefit by provinces from families on social assistance. The Committee also criticized Canada for not having “effective procedures to follow up on the Committee’s concluding observations”.
Canada's performance will be reviewed once again in 2010.
KAIROS’ submission to the Committee, based on “Peoples’ Forums” held with 400 people in 11 Canadian towns and cities, is available at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/humanrights/advocacy.asp
The Committee's 11-page Concluding Observations are available at
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/docs/E.C.12.CAN.CO.5-new.pdf
For more information, please contact Michael Polanyi, Canadian Social Development Program Coordinator, at 1 877 403 8933 x237 or mpolanyi .
New resources: Annual Report here and new campaign coming!
Want to know what we were up to in 2005? Wonder what good your
gifts of time, money and skills accomplished? Download our annual
report at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/who/annualReport.pdf
or order your free copy from http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/resources/catalogue.asp#report
And in September our campaign Water: Life Before Profit continues with Year Two. Our action will focus on corporate use and abuse of water—often with the complicity of government. The work on privatization, the municipal signings of the Water Declaration, bottled water awareness and much more will be continued—by you, by the network, by partners, and by our member churches. Join us! Look for updates on our campaign page in September 2006.
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