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.
From Weapons Fairs to War Zones
Well attended AGM discusses the future of Conscience Canada
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
2021 Annual General Meeting of Conscience Canada
Saturday May 1, 2021, 3:30 p.m. EDT
Virtual meeting via ZOOM video conferencing
Agenda (PDF)
- Approval of the minutes of the 2020 AGM (available upon request)
- Presentation and Approval of the 2020 financial statements (available upon request)
- Appointment of auditors for 2021
- 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.) - Confirmation of board members standing for re-election
- 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).
Canada Must Stop Arming Saudi Arabia
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!
2020 Annual General Meeting of Conscience Canada
Sunday Sept 20, 2020, 3:30 p.m. EDT
Virtual meeting via ZOOM video conferencing
Agenda
- Approval of the minutes of the 2019 AGM (available upon request)
- Review of CC activities in 2019 and a look ahead (members’ participation invited)
- Revised Conscience Canada bylaw. Review of changes and Motion to approve.
- Confirmation of board members standing for re-election:
- Election of new board member(s)
- Presentation and Approval of the 2019 financial statements (available upon request)
- Appointment of auditors for 2020
- 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).
A Serious Question: Why Waste Billions?
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
ANTÓNIO GUTERRES
“The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war”
Our world faces a common enemy: COVID-19. The virus does not care about ethnicity or nationality, faction or faith. It attacks all, relentlessly.
Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world. The most vulnerable — women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced — pay the highest price. They are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19.
Let’s not forget that in war-ravaged countries, health systems have collapsed. Health professionals, already few in number, have often been targeted. Refugees and others displaced by violent conflict are doubly vulnerable.
The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.
That is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.
To warring parties, I say: Pull back from hostilities. Put aside mistrust and animosity. Silence the guns; stop the artillery; end the airstrikes.
This is crucial…- To help create corridors for life-saving aid.
- To open precious windows for diplomacy.
- To bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Let us take inspiration from coalitions and dialogue slowly taking shape among rival parties to enable joint approaches to COVID-19. But we need much more.
End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world. It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever.
Healthcare Not Warfare
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.
CONSCIENCE CANADA 2020 Annual General Meeting
The CONSCIENCE CANADA 2020 Annual General Meeting that was to be held on April 18 at Danforth Mennonite Church in Toronto has been CANCELLED due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other arrangements for holding our annual AGM are being considered. In due course information on a re-organized AGM will be communicated to CC members and posted here on our website. Please be assured that whatever we do will follow public health guidance on infection prevention and control of COVID-19.
Risk-informed decision-making for mass gatherings during COVID-19 global outbreak
2020 Annual General Meeting
CONSCIENCE CANADA 2020 Annual General Meeting
Saturday April 18, 2020, 2:00 p.m., Danforth Mennonite Church, 2174 Danforth Ave, Toronto
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. Confirmation of board members standing for re-election:
4. Election of new board member(s)
5. Presentation and Approval of the 2019 financial statements (available upon request) 6. Appointment of auditors for 2020
BREAK
3:30 pm Film: A BOLD PEACE – Costa Rica’s path of demilitarization (60mins)
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.
