This just in from the Basel Peace Office!

You are invited to participate in an exciting action: Count the Nuclear Weapons Money.

One trillion dollars is being allocated over the next ten years to modernize the nuclear arsenals of nine countries.The corporations making these weapons lobby for increased spending on nuclear weapons, stimulating the nuclear arms race and increasing the risk of a nuclear war.

Count the Nuclear Weapons Money will demonstrate the scale of this investment, and how it could instead be devoted to peace and humanitarian needs. While governments meet at the United Nations in New York for the first ever United Nations High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament, we will be outside the UN counting one million specially designed notes each of $1 million value, adding up to $1 trillion.

Between May 10-16 we will count money ($100 million per minute, $6 billion per hour, $146 billion per day for seven days). While counting we will highlight economic, social and environmental areas in which this money could instead be invested.

We have parliamentarians, civil society leaders, artists, sports stars, musicians, activists, religious leaders, youth, war veterans and others signed up to count the money for 20-30 minutes each. Click here to sign-up as a money counter.

This action is part of Move the Nuclear Weapons Money, a global campaign to cut nuclear weapons budgets, divest from nuclear weapons corporations and move the money to meet areas of human need, such as ending poverty, protecting the climate, supporting renewable energy, creating jobs, and providing adequate healthcare, housing and education for all.

The campaign was launched in October 2016 by the International Peace Bureau, World Future Council and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. Conscious Canada supports this campaign along with many other organisations and networks working in cooperation with the Global Campaign on Military Spending.

Conscience Canada has recently become a member of the International Peace Bureau.

The IPB is dedicated to a vision of the world without war. For more than 125 years the IPB has worked on a wide range of peace promotion topics, including nuclear weapons, the arms trade and other aspects of disarmament; peace education and creating a culture of peace; women and peacemaking; peace history; as well as related themes such as international law and human rights.

Conscience Canada shares IBP’s vision and its belief that by reducing funding for the military, significant amounts of money can be released for social projects, domestically or abroad, which can lead to the fulfillment of real human needs and the protection of the environment.

More information about the International Peace Bureau can be found on the IBP website. The IPB newsletters are there along with info on other publications, activities, and their Youth Network.

The Global Campaign on Military Spending (GCOMS) is an international campaign promoted by the International Peace Bureau. The Global Days of Action (GDAMS) it organizes is an annual occurrence. The aim is to reduce the global military spending thanks to cooperative work with civil society groups.

The GCOMS 2018 campaign has started. This year, the IPB Global Day(s) of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS) includes the period from April 14 to May 3rd, 2018, under this slogan:

Reducing 10% of military assets will help save our planet. Take action!

Take part in the GDAMS Selfie Campaign 2018

The 2017 Peace Tax Return is now online, as well as the Spring, 2018 newsletter.

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CONSCIENCE CANADA 2018 Annual General Meeting
(AGM Official Notice)
Date and Time: Saturday, April 7, 2018, 2:00 p.m.
Place: Rm. 2202, Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, ON

2:00 BUSINESS MEETING
Agenda
1. Approval of the minutes of the 2017 AGM (available upon request)
2. Review of the work done by CC during 2017 and a look ahead (members’ participation invited)
3. Confirmation of board members standing for re-election: David Bechtel, Charlie Diamond, Doug Hewitt-White, Mary Groh, Murray Lumley, Jan Slakov, Dwyer Sullivan, Eric Unger
4. Election of new board member(s)
5. Presentation and Approval of the 2017 financial statements (available upon request)
6. Appointment of auditors for 2018

BREAK

3:30 pm – Tamara Lorincz on “The Climate Costs of Canada’s New Defence Policy” – Tamara is a peace researcher & activist extraordinaire, currently doing a PhD in Global Governance

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Tamara Lorincz marking Conscientious Objector Day, May 15, 2015

Thanks to Ernie & Charlotte Wiens for sharing their peace tax letter with us, below. May it inspire many others to act on the leadings of their conscience.

Dear Prime Minister,

There are many Canadians who simply believe it is wrong to kill another human being for any reason. During World War ll some 10,000 Canadians chose to be conscientious objectors and refused to take up arms in order to kill. Some would say one should be willing to defend one’s country. This may sound noble but in reality if you go to war you aim to kill before you are killed.The problem, as you know, is that if everyone operates from this premise you end up with what we have today- militaries in almost every country on the planet, including our own, spending precious human,environmental and financial resources preparing to kill. Particularly abhorrent is the fact that even our own country produces military vehicles and equipment which are sold around the world to help other nations kill in the name of their country. It is not unlikely that these weapons could be used to wreak havoc on the country from which they originate.

No one said it better than former President Dwight D. Eisenhower:

“Every gun that is fired, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in a final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hope of its children…This is not the way of life at all in any true sense…”

We long for a leader to speak and to act like this while in office. Mr. Trudeau, you yourself reportedly said that if you were not an MP you would consider participating in Non-Violent Peace Force. This is noble indeed. We write to request another option in keeping with your desire for peace. Maybe you are an MP and Prime Minister precisely for this option.

Use your conviction and influence and government to establish a Legal Peace Tax Fund so that Canadians like us can legally divert the military portion of our taxes to work for peace rather than preparing for war. If you would do so Canadians could choose this option and Canada would begin to show the rest of the world that we are serious about peace. Our children, our grandchildren and the children of the world will be in a better place.

Motivated by a vision for a peaceful Canada, motivated by our conscience and faith, and desiring a better world for all children we have diverted the military portion of our taxes to Conscience Canada’s Peace Tax Fund for the past ten years. We have annually informed your office, the CRA, our MP and other government leaders of our actions and our reasons for doing so. All to no avail. We continue to be pursued by the CRA for tax dollars we have already paid. Do you support this action in light of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

Our country has allowed for conscientious objection for over 200 years. Is this no longer an option at a time where technological warfare requires dollars more than bodies to fill boots and carry guns?

We anticipate a reply. Please consider our request seriously. And please, not just another form letter.

As we continue to pray for our leaders and the healing of all nations,

Sincerely,

Ernie and Charlotte Wiens
R0G 0A1

Please read the Fall 2017 Newsletter to learn about how you can help global efforts towards nuclear abolition and to meet our new president, Doug Hewitt-White.

Peace groups across the country and around the world are rallying to support the recent UN Nuclear Prohibition Treaty. If you can participate in a “citizen signing” of the Treaty (events listed on the http://www.ceasefire.ca website) or write letters that would be wonderful!

Conscience Canada supports the campaign to prevent Canada from increasing its military spending. President Trump wants Canada to double its expenditures to 2% of GDP, which would mean doubling our spending from about $19 billion per year to about $40 billion per year!

Please sign the petition here: https://www.no2percent.ca

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with President Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 13, 2017. Kevin Lamarque—Reuters

Report on the Conscience Canada Annual General Meeting, held at Danforth Mennonite Church, 2174 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON, Saturday, April 1, 2017

Seven members attended this year’s Conscience Canada (CC) AGM with 10 additional proxies received. Mary Groh, President of the board, presided over the meeting. Persons willing to remain as board members and who were accepted by the meeting were: Dave Bechtel of Kitchener ON, Mary Groh of Kitchener ON, Murray Lumley of Toronto ON, Jan Slakov of Salt Spring Island BC, Dwyer Sullivan of Kitchener ON, Eric Unger of Winnipeg MB. Kelly Krauter of Montreal, PQ and Peter Tiessen of Winnipeg, MB resigned from the board. They were thanked for their service to Conscience Canada. Doug Hewitt-White of Almonte, ON and Charlie Diamond of Toronto were elected as new members of the board. Doug Hewitt-White has agreed to act as President of Conscience Canada with Mary Groh acting as Past-President. Treasurer Dave Bechtel distributed the 2016 financial statements and the auditors were appointed for 2017.

‘Non-business’ part of the meeting: –

At 3:30 pm actor Ben Wert presented Monologues from ‘Theatre of the Beat’s’ play, “Yellow Bellies”, about World War II Conscientious Objectors followed by a vigorous discussion, comparing the nature of conscientious objection then with today where the objection is to military taxation.

Conscience Canada Board Report for 2016

The board’s efforts  were enhanced this year by the work of two paid interns, Kelly Krauter and Emily Mininger.  In preparation for a significant push in promotion they cleaned up the mailing list.

Emily created an infographic showing how Canadian tax money could be spent for the benefit of people in need rather than for the destruction of people and habitat.  This was translated into French and used on the front of our English and French Peace Tax Return as a change from the old picture of a dove perched on a cannon.  These  PTR’s were sent out with a press kit to numerous media contacts.  One result was an interview on Windsor radio station with Jan Slakov and Dominique Boisvert. Artistes pour  la paix put our PTR on their website. Echeq a la guerre, a coalition of peace organizations in the Province of Quebec, did also and invited Kelly to make a presentation to their organizing committee.

Kelly also created a Facebook Events page which was used in advertising last year’s presentation by  Dr. Abuelaish after our AGM on  April 9.  That event, advertised on social media and local newspapers and posters in public places and church bulletins in the east end of  Toronto, resulted in a packed house at Danforth Mennonite Church and contributed about $2,000 to his Daughters for Life Foundation.

At the conclusion of her internship, Kelly agreed to serve on the board, taking the responsibility of recording secretary from Murray Lumley for the ensuing year. She and two other Quebec members made a CC presentation at the World Social Forum in Montreal in August.

The Canadian School of Peace-building at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg for the second summer included Conscience Canada in its programming; and board member Eric Unger did his best to promote tax re-direction to the students from across Canada and around the world.

This year the statistical information on our DVD was updated by Don Woodside and his nephew David; the music issue was dropped and the video re-instated on our website.  Our web master Todd Lumley continues to respond promptly and capably to all our requests.  Jan Slakov continues to publish  two informative newsletters every year received by 125 people by post and many more on line.

Conscience Canada signed on to the Voices-voix declaration for dissent and democracy,  and to Echec a la guerre’s article published in Quebec on the International Day of Peace.  Conscience Canada also submitted a brief to the Parliamentary Consultations on Defence Policy on July 31, 2016.  It is posted on our website under “Resources”.

No MP was found to take our CO bill to parliament.  Perhaps too little serious effort was put into the search. Board members are hesitant to ask for support from parliamentarians when so little desire from Canadians for this legislation can be documented. Our 2016 contributors to the Peace Tax Trust Fund, in spite of all our efforts, numbered only 22. There are a total of 157 people with money in the fund.

Our search for a  sympathetic MP gave way to a search for people ready to keep Conscience Canada going as a  not-for-profit organization. How can we pursue the goal of legalizing the refusal to support the military with our taxes, which is in our mandate?  Until our MP’s can feel more pressure from the Canadian public for a CO tax bill there is little hope that legislation will happen.

Other groups are lobbying the government to give priority to the planet’s peace, environmental health, and human rights and well being instead of to the production of military hardware, and procurement and training for “defence” and  “security”.  We could join with such an organization to make a greater impact;  but this would likely mean people who want to keep their earnings out of the coffers of the military  establishment would be on their own, without the support of a 40-year-old organization. Maintaining our unique brand or closing it down is becoming a perennial issue for the board and one which must be solved definitively very soon.

The board should be commended for continuing their efforts in spite of so little acceptance. Even though we are geographically remote from each other we feel “the fellowship of kindred minds”    committed to a good cause. This keeps us going.

Mary Groh, for Conscience Canada Board of  Directors

for Conscience Canada Board of Directors