Members of the Airfield Activation Team, Bagotville, QC Photo courtesy the Canadian Department of National Defence/Flickr
If you find the brouhaha about meeting NATO spending targets (while we more or less ignore overseas development aid or climate targets) upsetting, you’ll surely find this article by Yves Engler helpful! https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/yves-engler-the-insanity-of-spending-two-percent-of-gdp-on-the-military
What US Gen. Omar Bradley said (10 Nov. 1948) is relevant, in remembering Hiroshima & Nagaski: “We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Man is stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness while toying with the precarious secrets of life and death. The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living.” Here are some events happening in Canada: Victoria: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/hiroshima-nagasaki-day-august-6-2024-tickets-943962415997, Nanaimo, starting 8:45 pm Swy-A-Lana Lagoon, Winnipeg- South Side of Manitoba Legislature. Lantern making 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Official ceremony 8:30 p.m. Launch of lanterns 9:15 p.m., Ottawa, starting 7 pm at the pond near Queen Elizabeth & 5th, Hamilton: Aug. 9 12 – 2 pm at Dundas Town Hall, Toronto (Peace Garden near City Hall) , 4 – 8:30 pm, Aug. 6, Dartmouth: Aug. 6 11 – noon, 88 Alderney Dr.. If you know of other Hiroshima -Nagasaki Day events in Canada, please let us know. (You can write to janslakov @ proton.me or info @ consciencecanada.ca .)
An article originally published in Haaretz by award-wining journalist Netta Ahituv, resonates deeply with members of the board of Conscience Canada & friends. A couple of us even subscribed to Haaretz; we want to support this kind of journalism!
Dr. Hasan & his wife invite people to contribute to efforts like this to provide relief in Gaza.
“When everyone who was able to flee from Gaza was doing so, Dr. David Hasan made the reverse journey. His story is a must-read for every Israeli.” The article continues, describing conditions in Gaza, and transforming statistics into people, loving and loved, people we can learn to love too. Dr. Hasan, a Palestinian born in Kuwait, has a deep connection to the place, the people. When he moved to the US, he “connected mainly with Jews and Israelis” who helped him acclimate. He changed his name from Emad to David.
He went to Gaza to help not just Palestinians, but Israelis as well. Continue reading
Let’s stop wasting the earth’s wealth on war!
A Montreal professor wrote the letter below, which we want to share as a great example of how to reach out to MPs about respecting the right to conscientious objection.
Thanks for sharing; our letters can inspire more and better 🙂
Dear Minister Freeland,
I am a part-time Teacher [in a university faculty], a dedicated citizen and community member who is deeply concerned about Canada’s investment in militarism and warfare. Myself, friends, family and colleagues are working and dedicated to life-giving practices and community building to support people who are disproportionately excluded from access to basic resources, including affordable housing, food, healthcare, and education.
Mattan Helman, executive director of Refuser Solidarity Network, has a petition we hope you’ll sign, and share. Find it here: https://support.refuser.org/ .
Addressed to Israeli COs, it reads:
We, citizens of countries around the world, support your brave decision to refuse to take part in the Gaza genocide despite the persecution you face.
Not only is refusal to participate in war crimes a moral imperative, it is crucial to ending the horrors of the war. By withdrawing your cooperation and disobeying, you are undermining Israel’s ability to continue destroying Gaza.
SIPRI has just released their annual analysis of world military expenditure. They report that military spending worldwide increased for the ninth consecutive year in 2023, reaching a total of $2.43 trillion USD. That increase is the biggest since 2009 and highest level SIPRI has ever recorded. . . Spending per person was . . .
For more info, endorsements or to donate contact wilpfcanada@gmail.com
If you are feeling overwhelmed or helpless by wars killing hundreds of thousands of innocents and tearing our world apart, the military’s disastrous impact on the climate and if you care about Truth and Reconciliation consider supporting the cross-country On to Ottawa Peace Caravan (May 2024).
This is a call to action to bring Canadians together to talk about how we can create positive change in the face of these interconnected concerns and threats.
Participants in Winnipeg’s Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage on a frigid March 16th, 2024. (in front of Boeing Industries)
Conscientious objectors Ernie Wiens and Eric Unger participated in Winnipeg’s Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, one of over 140 around the world. The Pilgrimages are intended to draw attention to the relationship between the atrocities now happening in Gaza and the weapons industry and are inspired by Jesus’ way of healing justice.
The 42km route through Winnipeg symbolically mirrors the walk from Gaza City to Rafah, a journey which Palestinians have been forced to take because of Israel’s military assaults and forced evacuations.
Ernie’s speech in front of Boeing Industries’ Winnipeg factory provides details of Canadian profiteering from war. We have copied it below.
-Global Days of Action on Military Spending
DISARMAMENT NOW TO SAVE PEOPLE & THE PLANET
Humanity is at a crossroads where political decisions on defence budgets will determine the trajectory of the multiple crises in which we are immersed.
Photo from Women’s Views on News, 2016
If you’d like to learn more about conscientious objection to military taxation (why, how it’s not a tax evasion scheme!, consequences, etc) please join us for our upcoming information session Sunday, April 7, 2024. (Email janslakov @ proton.me (without the spaces) to get the link.
And members and friends are encouraged to join our AGM, via Zoom, on Sat. April 20 starting at 3:30pm Eastern. Please contact info@ consciencecanada.ca for the link (or a proxy form).
