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Kairos Times: December 2007. Vol 6, #10
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| A blessed season of peace and hope, joy and love to you all, whatever your tradition. And once the New Year begins—remember to tell us about your local events! Send details to info kairoscanada.org |
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In this edition:
- Canada undermines the Kyoto Protocol at UN climate conference
- KAIROS Sunday 2008—make your plans!
- Zatoun fair-trade olive oil now available at Ten Thousand Villages
- Momentum builds for a Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy
- Canadian churches join global investor initiative on climate change
- Federal Court rules that the Safe Third Country Agreement violates charter of rights
- A dangerous six years for human rights in the Philippines
- KAIROS urges Prime Minister Harper to stop accelerated free trade negotiations with Colombia
- Bank of the South Challenges World Bank and IMF’s rule
- Recommended reading for the holidays
1) Canada undermines the Kyoto Protocol at UN
climate conference
As the world gathers in Bali to discuss climate change --and as millions of people around the world gathered on December 8 to hold them to their commitments-- Canada, Japan, and the United States are standing firm (and alone) in their insistence on moving away from the Kyoto Protocol.
They refute the Protocol's emphasis on the historical role played
by industrialized countries in the creation of the climate crisis,
and reject its principled assertion that those countries should
be the first to achieve binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions.
KAIROS is participating in the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical
Delegation to the Bali talks, and strongly supports the Kyoto framework.
We've just released at statement to the Canadian government on
these issues:
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/media/statements/stmBaliUNConference_5Dec07.pdf
Our work on climate change is a vital part of the Re-energize: Time For A Carbon Sabbath campaign, which explores how our addiction to fossil fuels affects the environment, contributes to conflict and human rights abuses around the world, and exacerbates economic inequality.
For an analysis of this, please visit
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/ecology/climateChange/EnergyPolicyPaper_KAIROS_December2007.pdf to
read our new paper, Re-energizing the Future: Faith and Justice
In A Post-Petroleum World. It highlights our sense, as Christian
activists, that we must take both personal and political action
to change the way we live and reduce the burden we impose on our
the Earth, our brothers and sisters, and indeed all of Creation.
If you would like to participate in this work, please join us in the Re-energize campaign. You can visit http://www.re-energize.org/ChangetheWorld.html to download or sign online our action explaining what you are doing to use fossil fuels more justly, and urging the federal government to so the same.
For more information on the Re-energize campaign, browse the website www.re-energize.org or contact Campaigns Coordinator Sara Stratton at 1-877-403-8933 x 241 or sstratton kairoscanada.org
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of page2) KAIROS Sunday 2008—make your plans!
Calling all churches in the KAIROS family and beyond: make some space for justice in your worship and study life by planning a KAIROS service of worship. A new liturgy, bulletin insert, children’s resources and more are available at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/network/sunday/index.asp If you want additional worship ideas, see our complete list at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/resources/worship/index.asp
Please be sure to tell us about your plans. Contact Julie Graham, Network Coordinator, at 1877 403 8933 x233 or jgraham kairoscanada.org
3) Zatoun fair-trade olive oil now available at Ten Thousand Villages
Ten Thousand Villages, run by the Mennonite Central Committee, is well known to church and social justice groups across Canada as a great source of fair-trade food and crafts. Zatoun fair trade extra virgin olive oil from Palestine is now available for purchase at Ten Thousand Villages stores.
Zatoun is a grassroots Canadian group which imports fairly traded olive oil, soap and other products from Palestinian farmers living under military occupation in the West Bank. The Separation Wall, the ongoing violence and mobility restrictions on goods and persons in the West Bank have resulted in a near economic collapse of the Palestinian economy since 2000.
Olive oil sales allow these farm families to continue their traditional small-scale operations and make a modest living. The basic premise of Zatoun is that in order to have peace, people must be able to gain a livelihood.
There are 48 stores across Canada and all carry the olive oil: http://www.tenthousandvillages.ca/ Ten Thousand Villages will donate one dollar from each bottle sold through their stores to help fund the "Trees for Life" program which plants olive tree saplings in Palestine.
KAIROS welcomes this exciting initiative as part of the churches’ long-standing commitment to both fair trade and a peaceful resolution to the ongoing violence in Israel-Palestine. Zatoun’s efforts and Ten Thousand Villages’ support mean that more farmers can export their oil, while we in Canada learn more about the efforts of Christians, Jews and Muslims to bring about a just peace and to support the area’s economy. So put a little solidarity into your holiday gifts!
For more information, contact Julie Graham, Education and Network Coordinator, 1 877 403 8933 x233 or jgraham kairoscanada.org
4) Momentum builds for a Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy
This fall, progress has been made across Canada on poverty issues. Provincially, Newfoundland renewed its poverty reduction strategy; Ontario and Nova Scotia are developing strategies, and there are murmurs of strategies in Manitoba and Prince Edward Island. And federally, the Liberal Party has committed to reduce poverty by 30% in five years and by 50% among children if elected.
With a federal election expected soon, now is the time to push all federal parties to include commitments to poverty reduction in their platforms.
Canadian churches and our partners are doing their part:
- The Canadian Council of Churches has released a new church leader’s letter calling for a poverty reduction strategy: http://www.ccc-cce.ca/english/home/2007/nov26_2007.htm
- 75,000 Canadians “Stood Up” against poverty at over 500 events on October 17 – the UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty
- Campaign 2000’s new Child Poverty Report Card focuses on the need for a poverty reduction strategy (KAIROS is a partner in Campaign 2000) (www.campaign2000.ca).
- In late November, KAIROS hosted a gathering just outside Ottawa of over 70 people from across Canada – including many people who live in poverty. Participants at the forum met with MPs and their advisors from government and the four other parties – again, calling, for a poverty reduction strategy.
- On December 7, KAIROS’ Quebec staff member Jean-Luc Djigo called for a poverty reduction strategy in our pre-budget presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance in Montreal.
For more information on nation-wide and provincial actions for poverty reduction, please sign up for KAIROS’ bi-monthly poverty updates or contact Michael Polanyi, Canadian Social Development Program Coordinator at mpolanyi kairoscanada.org or 1 877 403 8933 x237.
5) Canadian churches join global investor initiative on climate change
Four religious institutions affiliated to KAIROS have joined the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a global coalition of institutional investors concerned about climate change. The Daly Foundation, a Catholic charitable foundation, first joined the CDP in 2006. This year, the Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada’s Pension Plan, and the United Church of Canada’s General Council also became signatories to the fifth annual CDP report, which was released on September 24 in New York.
Every year the CDP sends a survey to the largest publicly traded companies in the world regarding the financial risks and opportunities related to climate change. In 2007, less than half of the 200 Canadian companies included in the survey responded to the questionnaire. Canadian companies are lagging behind their international counterparts on disclosing climate change risk.
For more information on the Carbon Disclosure Project, visit: http://www.cdproject.net
KAIROS is recommending that all national churches and religious orders in Canada join the CDP. For more information on how your church or religious community can participate in the Carbon Disclosure Project, please contact Ian Thomson, Program Coordinator for Corporate Social Responsibility, KAIROS, 1 877 403 8933 ext. 229, ithomson kairoscanada.org
6) Federal Court rules the Safe Third Country Agreement violates Charter of Rights
On November 28 the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the Safe Third Country Agreement between the US and Canada violates the Charter and Canada’s international commitments to people seeking refuge. In his 126-page ruling Mr. Justice Michael Phelan concluded the Canadian government has not conducted the ongoing review of the Safe Third Country Agreement mandated by Parliament "despite both the significant passage of time since the commencement of the (agreement) and the evidence as to US practices currently available."
Since 2004 the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR), the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC), KAIROS and many others have struggled to end the Safe Third Country Agreement for exactly these reasons. (see http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/media/lettersTopic.asp#8) Years of lobbying the federal government produced no changes, so earlier this year the Canadian Council for Refugees, the CCC, Amnesty International and others launched a legal challenge of the agreement. See http://www.ccrweb.ca/eng/media/pressreleases/30nov07.htm and http://www.ccc-cce.ca/english/home/2007/nov30_2007.htm for more details.
But what does all this mean for refugee claimants? The parties have until January 14 to appeal the court ruling. If an appeal is launched, we are looking at months if not years of legal proceedings. The Safe Third Country Agreement, which prevents thousands of refugees who arrive at the US border to apply for protection in Canada, is still in effect. Many refugees still face the risk of being deported.
Yet this is an encouraging victory for the refugee community. The court ruling clearly validates the arguments that the agreement is a violation of refugee rights.
Watch this space for an update in the New Year! For more information, contact Alfredo Barahona, program coordinator for Refugee and Migrant Justice, 1 877 403 8933 x251 or abarahona kairoscanada.org
7) A dangerous six years for human rights in the Philippines
The last six years have proven to be very dangerous for the people of the Philippines. Despite national and international outcries, extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and intense militarization continue to terrorize the Philippine population. In their recent report “Dangerous Regime, Defiant People,” KAIROS’ partner KARAPATAN documented the human rights abuses perpetuated with impunity by the armed forces of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime between January 1, 2001 and October 31, 2007.
The report cites that a total of 887 incidences of extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and 185 incidences of enforced or involuntary disappearances have taken place in the Philippines since Arroyo assumed power in 2001. The majority of those victimized were church leaders, peasants, human rights and labour activists, Indigenous People and youth and students. The accounts documented by KARAPATAN were reinforced by the final report of Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur to the Philippines on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, which was released in November of this year.
KAIROS and members of the Stop the Killings coalition continue to work in solidarity with KARAPATAN to bring voices of justice in the Philippines to the attention of the Canadian public and policy makers. With the Philippines’ periodic review at the United Nations Human Rights Council quickly approaching, these voices are more critical than ever.
A copy of both the KARAPATAN and Philip Alston reports can be downloaded from the Stop the Killings in the Philippines website at: http://stopthekillings.org/stknpv2/
For more information contact Heather Orrange, Program Coordinator, Human Rights, at 416.463.5312 x 226 or by e-mail at horrange kairoscanada.org
8) KAIROS urges Prime Minister Harper to stop accelerated free trade negotiations with Colombia
Canadian negotiators continue to work at break-neck speed in order to finalise a free trade deal with Colombia early next year. KAIROS is extremely concerned that our government is continuing negotiations without conducting an impartial, neutral human rights impact assessment.
Such an assessment would ensure that any free-trade deal that Canada signs will not worsen what the UN has determined to be the western hemisphere's worst humanitarian crisis. It would also ensure that any trade deal with Colombia is linked to measurable improvements in respect for human rights, indigenous rights and the acute situation of impunity.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Harper, KAIROS Board member Rev. Jim Dekker, who travelled to Colombia last year, calls on the government to suspend trade talks immediately and take concrete steps to ensure commitment to fundamental values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Trade must be a means toward sustainable development, eradication of poverty and enable legal mechanisms that prioritize respect for human rights. See http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/media/letters/Letter_PM_ColombiaFreetrade_6Dec07.pdf
Take action
The Make Poverty History Campaign has begun an e-action: "The wrong trade deal with the wrong government". The United Church of Canada has also launched an action. If you haven't already sent a letter, please take a minute and send a letter to your MP and Trade Minister David Emerson telling them the Canada-Colombia Free Trade deal is dangerous and must not be adopted without explicit and full Parliamentary approval. Go to: http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/email/112807.htm or http://www.united-church.ca/getinvolved/takeaction/071115
For further information, please contact Rusa Jeremic, Global Economic Justice Program Coordinator 416.463.5312, ext. 225 or rjeremic kairoscanada.org
9) Bank of the South Challenges World Bank and IMF’s rule
South American countries are about to launch their own development bank. The Bank of the South is intended to reverse the outflow of capital out of Southern countries through debt payments, profit remittances and capital flight. It will take some of the immense foreign exchange reserves that Latin American countries now place in US Treasury bills and instead invest them in their own development. The goal is to break free from the economic, financial and political dependence on international financial institutions controlled by northern countries and to empower southern peoples to build more human societies.
To learn more about the Bank of the South, see the latest KAIROS
Debt E-Bulletin at
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/economic/debt/E-bulletin_debt_Nov07.asp
10) Recommended reading for the holidays
Christmas and consumerism getting you down? Return to the roots
with Buy Nothing Christmas:
http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/
The Sabeel Centre for Liberation Theology is a Christian Palestinian partner of KAIROS. Canadian Friends of Sabeel invite you to visit their new site! www.sabeel.ca
What’s the link between security and climate change?
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists_full.shtml?x=65071
You’ve been reading Kairos Times, a monthly e-bulletin from KAIROS, the social justice organization of eleven Canadian churches and church agencies. Sign up for this free bulletin and occasional urgent actions or email us or call us toll-free 1 877 403 8933.
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