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Kairos Times: November 2006 Vol 5, #10
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| God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. |
Mary’s Song, Luke 1: 51b-53 |
KAIROS wishes all peoples and all the Earth the blessings of joy,
hope, peace and love this season.
Check out Greenpeace International’s Twelve Steps to a Greener
holiday
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/12-steps-to-a-greener-holiday
Even if you’ve already done your shopping, check out Buy Nothing
Christmas for some ideas on freeing this sacred season from consumerism:
http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/
In this edition:
- Thank you to all our supporters and donors
- Support Indigenous rights
- For a Canada without poverty: KAIROS hosts anti-poverty forum
- Refugee Appeal Division vote on hold; there’s still time to act
- International Tribunal Against Impunity finds Colombia guilty
- Roundtables on corporate responsibility wrap up
Thank you to all our supporters and donors
KAIROS is fortunate to have a web of friends that spans the globe. We thank you for your presence and are honoured to be a part of this work with you! As we enter a new year, we want to remember the work of our partners around the world, and to remember that this past year some paid for their work for peace with their lives. Their persistent hope continues to be an inspiration and guide for us all.
With your support, we will continue to carry forward their vision.
Our partners often say they take heart in hearing that so many people
like you in distant countries stand in solidarity with them. If
you would like to make financial contribution to support KAIROS
you can make an on-line donation at
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/support/donate.asp
Top
of pageSupport Indigenous rights
A reminder that our action in support of the Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples is still underway. Send a Christmas/
holiday card to the Prime Minister! See
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/urgent/uaUNRightIndigenousPeople061206.asp
For a Canada without poverty: KAIROS hosts anti-poverty forum
Churches and low-income people alike are all too familiar with harsh impact of poverty on Canadians. "From Vision to Action: Building a Faith-Based Movement for a Canada Without Poverty", a forum held on Parliament Hill November 27 and 28, aims to unite churches and people from many backgrounds in a push against the widespread reality of poverty in Canada. The Forum was planned by KAIROS, the Canadian Council of Churches, the National Roundtable on Poverty and Homelessness, Campaign Against Child Poverty, Faith and the Common Good and Citizens for Public Justice. Seventy-five people from six provinces attended, including a number of low-income people. Three members of Parliament also made presentations, and meetings were held with several MPs the day after the conference.
The gathering led the a number of action plans, including a Private Member’s Bill to replace the old Canada Assistance Plan, faith-based conversations with MPs in Ottawa, action to promote the adoption of a poverty reduction strategy in Canada, a 2010 “Poverty Reduction Olympics” and faith-based mobilization for October 2007 (International Day for the Elimination of Poverty). A full report will be posted soon at www.canadawithoutpoverty.ca
For more information, contact Michael Polanyi, Canadian Social Development Program Coordinator, at 1 877 403 8933 x237 or mpolanyi
Refugee Appeal Division vote on hold; there’s still time to act
Over a month ago we sent out an urgent action on private member’s
Bill C-280, which calls for the government to finally put into place
a fair appeal process for refugee claimants:
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/urgent/uaRefugeeAppealDivision061108.asp
KAIROS and many other groups have worked for years on this continuing
problem, including a petition campaign that gathered thousands of
signatures from coast to coast in 2004-2005.
The bill was scheduled for second reading on December 13th. Unfortunately, the House of Commons conveniently adjourned until the end of January at exactly the time they were scheduled to begin second reading of Bill C-280! As a result, the bill will now be debated in early February. While this is most frustrating, we now have more time to talk to our MPs and convince them that this bill is something they should support.
Throughout the month of January, while Members of Parliament are in their constituencies, take advantage of their presence and tell them why the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) must be implemented now! The Canadian Council for Refugees has some new materials to help: see http://www.ccrweb.ca/RAD%20backgrounder.pdf for the PDF version, or at http://www.ccrweb.ca/RADpage.htm
A tremendous thanks to all who supported our urgent action on Bill C-280! The response we received was highly encouraging and we remain hopeful that through this kind of collaboration, we CAN make a difference.
Form ore information on KAIROS work alongside refugees and migrants, contact John Mihevc, team leader for Economy of Life, at 1 877 403 8933 x228 or jmihevc
International Tribunal Against Impunity finds Colombia guilty
KAIROS Board member Jim Dekker and staff Rachel Warden have returned from the International Tribunal Against Impunity which took place in Bogota, Colombia on November 24-25, but the need for follow up on the verdict and accompaniment of human rights partners remains stronger than ever. The Tribunal’s powerful verdict, delivered by an international panel of judges, is now posted in English and Spanish (link). Photos from this trip can be viewed on the photo gallery (link). As well, reflections by Jim Dekker related to this experience are being posted.
An international delegation also traveled to Ciudad Bolivar and Cazuca; in these marginalized and sprawling areas on the outskirts of Bogota, people are deprived of their basic rights including the right to life, freedom of expression and association. A reign of terror allows paramilitary groups to maintain almost total control and children and youth are specific targets of human rights abuses. A report by human rights groups and social organizations working in the area revealed that in the last five years over 600 youth have been killed. Despite a heavy presence of police and military, no one is ever brought to justice for these crimes.
The Tribunal took place at a critical time, when the far-reaching links between high-level officials of the Colombian government and paramilitary are finally being exposed. This reality, referred to as para–politics by the Colombia media, confirmed long-standing assertions by international and Colombian human rights groups of the direct links between paramilitary and government. The Colombian government has systematically denied these links, but clearly denial is no longer possible. The question now is how far these investigations will go and where they will lead. Amnesty International has issued a statement expressing concern about paramilitary infiltration of state institutions. http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR230482006
KAIROS and other members of the Americas Policy Group of CCIC continue
to lobby the Canadian government on their policies in Colombia,
including Canadian support for the current demobilization process.
These concerns with recommendations are included in a recent policy
brief to Canadian government that was presented at a government
meeting last month:
http://www.ccic.ca/e/docs/003_apg_2006-11_canadian_policy_towards_colombia.pdf
For more information please contact Rachel Warden, Global Partnerships Latin America Coordinator, at 1 877 403 8933 x242 or rwarden
Roundtables on corporate responsibility wrap up
KAIROS again spoke out for new legislation on corporate accountability on November 12-14 at the fourth and final government roundtable on the Canadian extractive sector abroad.
Rachel Warden, Program Coordinator for Latin American Partnerships, highlighted the struggle of the community of Cerro de San Pedro, Mexico, where KAIROS partners have been fighting a Canadian mining company for over a decade. The total disregard for Mexican state law and environmental standards by Toronto-based Metallica Resources provided a perfect example for why Ottawa must enact binding legislation on Canadian corporations to protect human rights and the environment.
As part of its strategy on the Roundtable process and in solidarity
with the Broad Opposition Front (FAO) in Cerro de San Pedro, Mexico,
KAIROS made a submission at the Roundtable, highlighting the continuing
struggle of residents and the FAO to stop the illegal operations
of Canadian mining company Metallica Resources Inc. (MSX)
The KAIROS submission in Montreal made front-page news in the state's
paper La Jornada, showing that concerns about mining contamination
and Canadian corporate activities echo throughout the world.
In November we heard from Ana Maria Alvarado, community leader and
KAIROS partner. She shared with us that once again the courts had
annulled Metallica's illegal environmental permit which the Canadian
company was using to obtain an explosives permit.
She wrote,
"I just wanted to thank all our sisters and brothers in
Canada who are concerned about us. Here, we have reason and the
law on our side but our authorities prefer to support economic interests
and ambitions. Thanks to you we know now that we form a part of
a global resistance that cries out and demands a better world in
which colour and race are no longer discriminated against, and what’s
important is future with dignity for all of humanity …"
What’s next? After the Montreal roundtable, federal government bureaucrats are preparing a final report on the roundtables and making recommendations for government action around corporate responsibility in the extractive sector. The House Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development expects a government response in early 2007.
Please stay tuned to Kairos Times for advocacy opportunities on
mining and corporate accountability in the new year! Our current
campaign, year two of Water: Life Before Profit, focuses in part
on the impact of mining on water, and calls for binding environmental
and human rights standards for Canadian companies operating overseas—see
our campaign page, including our water action map, at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/action/campaign.asp
And check out our mining page for more background, including stories
from Southern partners struggling with mines: http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/corporate/mining/index.asp
Thanks to everyone within the KAIROS network who took part in the
four roundtables by speaking up, getting out petitions, organizing
educational events, and much more!
For more information, please contact Ian Thomson, Program Coordinator, Corporate Social Responsibility, 416 463 5312 ext 229, ithomson
You’ve been reading Kairos Times,
a monthly e-bulletin from KAIROS, the social justice organization
of eleven Canadian churches and church agencies. Sign
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us at info
, or toll-free 1 877 403 8933 Check out our website at www.kairoscanada.org
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