Tomorrow’s Child

Come child
let me teach you peace
for you know too much
of war and despair,
too much
of hunger and pain.

Let me teach you
how to love again,
that one day
you will have the strength
to shield your heart
from hate.

Let me teach you
how to trust again,
that one day
you will not place faith
in those who preach
with guns.

Come child
and embrace tomorrow,
for the dream of
peace
lives in you.

© Jeevan Bhagwat

Publication history:

“Tomorrow’s Child”
Artists for a Better World International, 2020
http://artistsforabetterworld.org/poetry-tomorrows-child/12423/

English original by Jeevan Bhagwat and Finnish translation “Huomisen Lapsi” by Anu Harju
Kaiku/Echo (Finnish/English print publication), Dec 2015
Finnish Organization of Canada

Finnish translation “Huomisen Lapsi” by Anu Harju (Anna Nieminen’s cousin in Finland)
Solidaarisuuskalenteri Solidarity Calendar, 2015
Finnish Peace Committee
https://rauhanpuolustajat.org/english/

Poets Against War, 2003
http://www.poetsagainstwar.ca/

Are We Done Fighting? – Building Understanding in a World of Hate and Division
https://arewedonefighting.com/, by Matthew Legge, is a rarely valuable book. It explores the dynamics of relationships and conflict from the interpersonal to the international level in ways that invite readers to see these issues with new understanding. It’s so rich that I’m not the only person who finds it useful to go back to it often, finding new insights each time. Most of all, the book, especially if it provides the jumping off point for discussion and exploration with others, can be useful in a variety of contexts.

It occurred to me that Are We Done Fighting? reminds me of another of my favourite books, Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing. Both books expose the frailties and failings of how our minds work and how this can lead to disaster. However Legge’s book devotes as much or more space for insights and stories of how we are also “wired” for love, connection, justice and peace.

I’m also reminded of books by Leonard Desroches, which help us see what a powerful force nonviolence can be and how we can build the resources to keep ourselves out of the clutches of what Ursula Franklin understood violence to be: resourcelessness. Another book with numerous inspiring, dare I say, exciting, examples of how the power of nonviolence can transform situations is Dave Hubert’s Canada @ Peace: Coactive Security.

On a different, but related topic, there’s Shakil Choudhury’s Deep Diversity https://shakilwrites.com/. Both Choudhury and Legge offer workshops, opportunities for anyone with a zoom connection to deepen their learning with others. (And both books provide ample insight into the psychological aspects of, in one case, racial injustice, in the other, polarization, conflict and violence – both- in ways that are readily accessible to people without training in these fields.)

As physician Dale Dewar (former ED of Physicians for Global Survival) warns, “We must end war or ultimately it will end us.” At the root of war is our proclivity towards “othering” – when we see others as somehow lesser, or threatening – making it easier to harm them. This susceptibility threatens our very existence, not just because of the dangers of war and injustice, but also because this mindset permeates our relationship to the natural world, creating a war against nature that is ultimately suicidal. Are We Done Fighting? can be an exceptionally useful tool, a guidebook, for helping ourselves out of this mess. It does not naively minimize the dangers we face, nor does it tend towards fatalism or despair. Indeed, the book, and also the FREE workshops linked to the book help free us from the shackles that can lead to complicity in violence and cynicism.

Printed on “paper from responsible sources” by New Society Publishers, this is a book we can feel good about buying and getting into the hands of friends and family, our libraries and maybe also people in positions of influence, who could use the vision and information to “spread the peace virus”.

The following document contains the 2021 Conscience Canada Annual General Meeting Minutes and Board Report for 2020, as well as an Open Discussion and questions about the future of Conscience Canada.

Download

In its Zoom-enabled virtual AGM on May 1st CC members from across Canada considered the future prospects of CC.

•    How to generate more interest among younger Canadians.
•    What are the challenges ahead.
•    Where to concentrate our efforts.
•    Why we face this critical juncture: grow or disband. 

View the discussion as captured in this video report.

https://vimeo.com/544702830

Saturday May 1, 2021, 3:30 p.m. EDT

Virtual meeting via ZOOM video conferencing

Agenda (PDF)

1. Approval of the minutes of the 2020 AGM (available upon request)
   
2. Presentation and Approval of the 2020 financial statements (available upon request)
   
3. Appointment of auditors for 2021
   
4. Review of CC activities in 2020 and a look ahead.
   Our board president will report on 2020 then we will engage members in a vigorous open discussion about CC continuing on. Should CC try to find another peace group to take on the PTR/Trust Fund? Do we let CC dissolve as a distinct organization?  Are there other alternatives? Are there new people with innovative ideas willing to be board members? (Specific directions from members will be vital in guiding the CC Board in a decisive 2021.)
   
5. Confirmation of board members standing for re-election
   
6. Election of new board member(s)

NOTE:    This constitutes the official annual meeting notice required by the Conscience Canada by-laws. Please let us know if you want to receive a PDF copy of the by-laws by email.

To attend the AGM

Please send an email to info@consciencecanada.ca (you will receive an email reply that confirms your registration and includes a link to use to join the Zoom meeting on May 1).

The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network has just publicly named 28 companies across Canada involved in the arms trade to Saudi Arabia. It’s loathsome for Canadian companies to be profiting from arming the combatants in the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet in Yemen.

The Network delivered this letter signed by 68 groups, representing 1mil people, to Justin Trudeau’s office on May 1. Conscience Canada is a proud signatory of this letter. We must end Canada’s complicity in the war on Yemen. Canada must stop arms shipments to Saudi Arabia immediately and expand humanitarian aid to Yemen’s people.

On Feb. 4 Biden announced the US would freeze all US arms sales to Saudi Arabia and end US support for the Saudi-led war on Yemen. Germany & Italy have halted arms trade to SA too.

JustinTrudeau it is your turn. For over 2 years you’ve received multiple letters in which dozens of groups representing millions who have repeatedly demanded Canada stop selling arms to the Saudis. We’ve petitioned, presented, protested, blocked arms. We’ve gotten NO ANSWER. Tell us—who do you answer to, who do you serve?

At the same time on Monday that activists delivered this letter to Trudeau demanding Canada stop the arms, Minister Karina Gould said “We must do everything possible” to help Yemen while announcing $69.9mil in aid. That is a drop in the bucket compared to the billions in arms we sell.

Canada is a leading weapons supplier to Saudi Arabia. Canada is the second-largest arms supplier to the entire Middle East. Canadian companies are currently profiting from arming the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet in Yemen.

This must STOP!

Sunday Sept 20, 2020, 3:30 p.m. EDT

Virtual meeting via ZOOM video conferencing

Agenda

1. Approval of the minutes of the 2019 AGM (available upon request)
2. Review of CC activities in 2019 and a look ahead (members’ participation invited)
3. Revised Conscience Canada bylaw. Review of changes and Motion to approve.
4. Confirmation of board members standing for re-election:
5. Election of new board member(s)
6. Presentation and Approval of the 2019 financial statements (available upon request)
7. Appointment of auditors for 2020
8. Invited speaker will talk about a current and instructive peace issue. The talk will be followed with a Q & A session

NOTE: This constitutes the official annual meeting notice required by the Conscience Canada by-laws. Please let us know if you want to receive a PDF copy of the by-laws by email.

To attend the AGM

Please send an email to info@consciencecanada.ca
(you will receive an email reply that confirms your registration and includes a link to use to join the Zoom meeting on September 20).

CC board member Eric Unger sends open letter to his local MP Terry Duguid and Prime Minister Trudeau

Dear Friends in High Places (or should I say, People with Serious Influence)

People are often curious as to why, or how, I could be so deeply opposed to war. I’m not sure if I’ve ever asked them why they are so deeply attracted to it. Perhaps it’s because my point of view is in such an obvious minority that I’ve always felt on the defensive.

So now I’m turning the tables. I’m asking you both (and any of your colleagues with whom you care to share this note) to tell me: Why are you so utterly determined to have our country (once perceived by much of the world to be an international beacon of peace) armed to the teeth with the latest in military hardware? Why are you so totally okay with spending tens of millions of dollars just to research which military jets are most suitable for the types of violence in which you are willing to engage? Wouldn’t it make more sense . . . I’m asking you a serious question here . . . wouldn’t it make more sense to work towards peaceful coexistence than to prepare for mutual destruction?

It’s not impossible of course, but I suspect you have not seen Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ brief plea for a complete cessation of war. It seems that he and I are on the same page in this regard. It appears that he is, like me, attempting to use his influence to end war! And he’s a much smarter person than I am! I would like you to read Guterres’ words below and tell me where, and why, you think he’s nuts. Seriously, let me know!

Do you agree with his point of view, or do you not? If you do, then why would you want to waste the federal treasury’s diminishing resources on 88 custom-made-for-Canada military jets and negate EVERYTHING he is calling on world leaders to do – that is, end the sickness of war? If Canada subscribes to the ideals of the United Nations, if Canada truly thinks peace is better than war, if Canada has the balls to be a pioneer in leading the world towards real peace, than why not invest (heavily) in a Department of Peace instead of a Department of War? Why not, at least, give us the freedom of conscience to which the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms entitles us, and allow us to pursue Guterres’ hopes? Why not invest (heavily) in moving towards a cleaner and healthier physical, social, and intellectual environment?

I await your responses.

Respectfully,

Eric Unger
Winnipeg

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world where humanity’s priorities should lie. This major attack on people’s security across the world shames and discredits global military expenditures and proves them an outrageous waste and loss of opportunities.

Consider what could be done worldwide with the current military spending of 1.92 trillion US$ each year. Here is a graphic illustration from the Global Day of Action on Military Spending – GDAMS- 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic must be addressed by supporting healthcare and other life-sustaining activities, not by spending on military equipment and personnel. The fact that military assets are being deployed during this crisis can be profoundly misleading: it doesn’t justify their bloated budgets, nor does it mean that they are solving this crisis. It shows quite the opposite: we need fewer soldiers, jets, tanks and aircraft carriers and more doctors, ambulances and hospitals.

Major reductions in military expenditures would free up resources not only to provide better healthcare and long term care, but also to tackle climate and humanitarian emergencies, especially in countries of the Global South, where Ebola, Cholera, Polio as well as Covid-19 are causing widespread suffering and death. Cutting military spending would also allow us to provide appropriate funding to institutions that work for human and common security, particularly the United Nations and its agencies.

A petition campaign, “Healthcare Not Warfare”, is underway in preparation for the next UN General Assembly meeting this fall. If you have not yet done so, please sign the petition at www.change.org/healthcarenotwarfare.