On November 28th 2011, Alex Atamanenko, MP for British Columbia Southern Interior, BC, moved for leave to introduce Bill C-363, An Act respecting conscientious objection to the use of taxes for military purposes.
“Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this bill respecting conscientious objection to the use of taxes for military purposes. As an aside, I thank my colleague from New Westminster—Coquitlam for seconding this bill.
According to this bill, once an individual registers with the Minister of National Revenue as a conscientious objector, he or she may then request that a portion of taxes for military purposes be credited to a special conscientious objectors’ account. This money would then be used for any non-military peace-building purposes.
I would like to congratulate my former colleague, Bill Siksay, for all his hard work in this area. Details of how this can be implemented are outlined in the bill.
I would also like to thank Anna Kirkpatrick and others from Conscience Canada who worked with me to fine-tune this bill. Let us give peace a chance.”
For the Hansard entry, please visit: http://openparliament.ca/hansards/2424/185/only/