Ola! August 2009

Table of Contents [hide]

• CPJ at St Paul’s
• CPJ at Kanata CRC
• Karri goes to camp
• Brief to Finance Committee
• Dignity for All update
• Archiving CPJ
• Gerald Vandezande: Canada’s unassuming prophet
• Web features
• The depth of the economic crisis: peeling the onion
• Who can work?
• Rethinking prosperity
• Dignity for All? Canada reneges on human rights commitments
• BIEN Canada Conference
• KAIROS action: KyotoPlus
• Goodbye Mariel
• A prayer for the reign of Christ

Welcome to Ola!

Welcome to the August edition of Ola!, CPJ’s monthly e-newsletter. With the summer months drawing to a close, we’re energized, relaxed and revitalized – ready to enter the fall swinging!

CPJ at St Paul’s

Joe Gunn was invited to address a crowd of 100 people at St. Paul’s University on June 25. The group had gathered to honour the life and work of Thomas Berry, the famous 94 year-old “geologian” who recently passed away in the USA.

Berry’s writings have influenced many who have attempted to link the religious community and the ecological movement. Berry wrote that “the Universe story” is the quintessence of reality, and that if we do not know this story, we do not know ourselves, nor do we know anything. He advocated for a “functional cosmology” to evoke the vision and energy required to bring ourselves and the entire planet back from the brink of ecological disaster.

Joe highlighted the influence of Berry’s work on social activists, who now more clearly see the inescapable links between working for social as well as environmental justice.

CPJ at Kanata CRC

One of the most effective ways to combat human trafficking is through building awareness about the issue. On June 22, policy analyst Chandra Pasma and intern Mariel Angus gave an educational presentation on human trafficking to a group of twenty at the Kanata Community Christian Reformed Church. The evening was organized by members of the Ottawa Innercity Ministries, a local inter-denominational organization that provides support services for those living in poverty in Ottawa.

Chandra and Mariel spoke about the issue of trafficking and its impact on vulnerable women, particularly in Canada. They shared stories about local cases of trafficking and offered suggestions as to how trafficking can be reduced through legislation and awareness.

The presentation was then followed by a lively discussion on trafficking and human dignity. The participants shared some significant insights about the relationships between trafficking and poverty, the exploitation of women, and gender relations within our society. The evening offered a good opportunity for education and discussion about this horrendous crime and what can be done to prevent it.

Karri goes to camp

From August 9-15, socio-economic policy analyst Karri Munn-Venn attended Justice Camp in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Organized by the Anglican Diocese of Nova Scotia and PEI around the theme of poverty and abundance, Justice Camp involved Bible studies, prayer, and lived experiences in various communities across Nova Scotia and PEI.

Before she headed out to camp, Karri said, “Having attended other Christian camps, I’m eager to see what this new experience brings. I’m particularly excited about the up-close and personal learning about poverty that the immersion component offers, and also about coming together and learning with other Christians.”

Look for more details about Karri’s experiences later this month on our blog. You can also read former CPJ staff Murray MacAdam’s thoughts that he wrote throughout the week on his Justice Camp blog.

Brief to Finance Committee

Budget decisions are moral decisions: they reveal our values, affect how resources are allocated, and shape our common future as Canadians. Each year, the House of Commons Finance Committee asks Canadians to share their priorities and concerns for the federal budget. This year, CPJ responded by reflecting on the Biblical values of justice, love for neighbour and care for creation. We argued that our economy should be an economy of care.

The present economic and environmental crises highlight the fact that our economy has not provided care for people or creation. Moving beyond the crises requires that we re-think our fundamental economic orientation. We need to expand our understanding of prosperity beyond economic growth to encompass social and environmental well-being.

Our brief offers three policy steps that Budget 2010 could take to move towards an economy of care:

1. Budget 2010 should announce a comprehensive, federal plan for poverty elimination.
2. Budget 2010 should take steps towards introducing a universal, Guaranteed Livable Income for all Canadians.
3. Budget 2010 should rollback the recent corporate tax cuts and GST cuts and invest the revenue in social infrastructure programs like childcare and EI.

Read our full brief to the Finance Committee.

Dignity for All update

We are pleased to unveil the new Dignity for All campaign logo! The circular element of the logo represents inclusiveness, comprehensiveness and wholeness, while the check signals affirmation, action and rising up. Combined, the elements give a nod to political action and signal that together, we can eliminate poverty in Canada!

Support for Dignity for All continues to build, but we need your help! If you haven’t already done so, please sign-on to the campaign at www.dignityforall.ca and while you’re at it, share this message with your family and friends.

Read more about the campaign’s latest initiatives, and take part in the Summer BBQ call to action. Attend your MP’s summer barbeque, tell them about the campaign, snap a photo and get them to sign on! You can download postcards and submit your photos.

Find out when and where your MP is hosting their event by discovering their website. You can also find out who your MP is by entering your postal code, and you’ll find a link to their websites here, too.

Archiving CPJ

It’s easy to accumulate a lot of documents, letters, and notes after 46 years of existence – especially if you’re CPJ and have had staff who were keen writers! Luckily for CPJ, we managed to get Lisa Marr, a recent graduate of the Library and Information Technician program at Algonquin College, to help us out for a few weeks.

Lisa has been going through CPJ’s archives, discovering old position papers, media clippings and photos. A big portion of her work has focused on organizing the archives and developing a categorization system for all of our material, and then scanning it onto our shared network to make it accessible to staff.

Check out this 1971 issue of Vanguard, a publication supported by the Christian Action Foundation (one of CPJ’s predecessors) in the 1970s. You’ll find articles by Gerald Vandezande, John Olthuis, Bert Witvoet and more! Look for more exciting archived material in the coming months – who knows who you might recognize in the old photos!

Gerald Vandezande: Canada’s unassuming prophet

One of CPJ's founders and a recognized name in religious and political circles, Gerald Vandezande's life has been one of faithfulness, commitment and passion. Starting with his humble beginnings, the article outlines some life lessons from this Christian social activist. Read more...

Web features

Although it’s summer, we’ve still got exciting articles to share with you. Bob Goudzwaard goes deeper on the economic crisis, Mariel Angus explores the meaning of prosperity for the next generation of Canadians, and Chandra Pasma continues to explore guaranteed livable incomes.

The depth of the economic crisis: peeling the onion

What is at the heart of this economic and financial crisis? Going beyond the surface of the issue, Bob Goudzwaard explores the depth of the connection between our society and money and how we have come to idolize Money and all that it stands for. Read more…

Who can work?

Some policy experts prefer conditional income support programs to Guaranteed Livable Income because they believe those who are able to work should receive lower benefits to encourage them to work, while those who are disabled should receive higher benefits since they are deserving poor. But this division assumes that it is possible to make good distinctions between who is and is not capable of working. Instead, our poor track record in judging others and their ability to work suggests that employment conditions are the equivalent of condemning some people to poverty. Income security must be unconditional and universal. Read more…

Rethinking prosperity

Since the end of the Second World War, there has been a general expectation in Canadian society that each new generation will enjoy more prosperity than the last. However, this may no longer be the case. There is a distinct possibility that young people today – the children of baby boomers, also known as Generation Y – will be the first generation to not be materially better off than their parents. Read more...

Dignity for All? Canada reneges on human rights commitments

In 2006, the UN’s Human Rights Council was mandated to "undertake a universal periodic review … of the fulfillment by each State of its human rights obligations and commitments.” Canada has been under review this year and delivered its response to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 9.

68 recommendations were presented to the Government of Canada. Ottawa accepted 39, rejected 14 and “partially accepted” another 15. As part of its response, Canada has refused to implement a national poverty eradication strategy that incorporates a human rights framework. Read more...

BIEN Canada Conference

On October 1 and 2, CPJ is helping to sponsor a Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) – Canada conference on Guaranteed Livable Income, to be held in Ottawa. This workshop will focus on questions of approach and design, sharing perspectives to help build a movement in Canada for GLI. Featured speakers include Jurgen de Wispelaere, Senator Hugh Segal, Member of Parliament Tony Martin, Evelyn Forget, CPJ policy analyst Chandra Pasma and many more!

Participation is open to all who are interested. Registration is $50, $15 for low income participants and students.

KAIROS action: KyotoPlus

As part of their advocacy around climate change, and leading up to the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen this December, KAIROS has developed a new action called KyotoPlus: Creating a New Global Covenant. You can sign on to the KyotoPlus petition, which calls on the government to support these goals: setting a national target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25% from 1990 levels by 2020; implementing a national action plan and supporting developing countries doing the same; and adopting a strong successor to the Kyoto Accord in Copenhagen this December.

Read more about KAIROS and KyotoPlus: Creating a New Global Covenant.

Goodbye Mariel

Every year CPJ welcomes a young, energetic, promising individual who joins the policy team for a full year. This year was no exception – our public justice policy intern, Mariel Angus, has become a full part of the CPJ team, contributing to policy discussions, writing blog posts, and presenting at conferences. She graciously put up with the intern tasks of making coffee, and deferred to the wisdom of her colleagues – including the legendary office goldfish – without too much fuss.

On a more serious note, take a look at some of Mariel’s outstanding work. She wrote web features that were picked up by other websites, and developed much of CPJ’s research around human trafficking.

We’re sad to see her go, but wish her all the best as she moves to Montreal to complete a Master’s in Public Policy at Concordia University. Don’t worry, though – Mariel will still be blogging and writing for CPJ – we won’t let her get away too easily!

A prayer for the reign of Christ

Mighty and tender God,
voice of the voiceless,
power of the powerless:
we praise you for your vision
of a community of wholeness,
a realm of peace,
in which all who hunger and thirst are nourished,
in which the stranger is welcomed,
the hurting are healed,
and the captive set free.

Guide us by your truth and your love,
until we and all your people
make manifest your reign of justice and compassion.

We pray in the name of your anointed one, our servant-king,
to whom with you and the Spirit, one Holy God,
be honour, glory and blessing
this day and forever. Amen.

"A Prayer for the Reign of Christ" #214 from Voices United: The Hymn and Worship Book of The United Church of Canada, UCPH, 1996. Used with permission as part of the worship resources provided for CPJ’s 2008 Envisioning Canada Without Poverty campaign.

For all at CPJ, Karen Diepeveen. Enjoy the harvest of summer vegetables and we’ll see you in September!