Conscience Canada board member Eric Unger urges our new Prime Minister to help create a culture of peace with justice. He quotes a great article by Matthew Behrens, which reminds us of the many ways we could work nonviolently to promote peace and justice in the Mid-East, including in regions controlled by ISIS or Da’esh.

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

I’m sure that every Canadian who writes to you fervently hopes that their brief notes will influence you in some way. As citizens write to encourage and congratulate you, to implore and beseech you, or to scold and criticize you, they want to make a difference. This writer is no different.

I encourage you to do your honourable best as you become familiar with the responsibilities you have accepted on the national and international stage. By now, you are more keenly aware of the consequences of all the promises and assurances you made prior to your election. I’m sure that this awareness will challenge you and your team in unexpected ways. As I’ve mentioned before, Canada appears to be ready to adjust the course, rather than stay the course and we are grateful for new opportunities to show the world that the reins which steer us are now taking us along new (or perhaps old) paths.

I implore you to continue along a path that removes Canada from the spheres of violence in which the previous government was determined to insert us in order to convert us into a warrior nation. I’m not sure what you believe, but I believe that this world already has far too many warrior nations, every one of which exists in servitude to the bloody merchants of violence, the military industries who reap breath-taking personal profits as they destroy the very planet that gives them breath. In your fight (our fight, really) against the forces of chaos and destruction, have the courage to resist the voices that tell you that peace will come only through weapons of violence. This is completely illogical and unwise. Equally unwise is the long established tradition of training foreign militaries in the use of such weapons. I am fully convinced that if we could trace the personal journey into violence of every single perpetrator in the Taliban, Al Qaida, and Da’esh, we’d find a pretty direct, and perhaps even long-standing, connection to a military trainer authorized by a foreign government.

I look forward to the headlines in the local press saying that our bombers, and eventually all Canadian Forces members, have been brought back home from their destructive sorties overseas.

Here’s a quote from a visionary writer:

“With four years under Trudeau, and two-thirds of Parliamentarians new to the job and less likely to be completely hard-bitten and cynical, perhaps this is an opportunity to renew discussion on a culture of peace with justice, and to initiate a Department of Peace that sits not beside a War Department, but replaces it completely.”

I’d love for you to read it all (http://rabble.ca/columnists/2015/11/canadas-deluded-wars-november), but this is unlikely. Maybe you could have a staff member read it and paraphrase it for you; maybe even the person who reads this note and must decide what to do with it.

Sincerely,

Eric Unger
Winnipeg, MB

Conscience Canada was one of 35 organizations which signed on to this letter initiated by ClimateFast and Step Up, Canada. We recognize climate change as a real security threat which, if addressed meaningfully, would surely help bring humanity together to work towards the common goal of a livable future. Although every MP has already received a copy, your MP will surely be more attentive if you send it yourself, and ask what he or she is doing to make sure Canada’s role at COP21 is constructive.

This article, by Naomi Klein and Jason Box explains how the Paris climate summit is very much related to the peace agenda: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-a-climate-deal-is-the-best-hope-for-peace.

To: The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Canada, Ottawa

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

Congratulations on forming the new Canadian government. We look forward to working with you to make Canadians proud of our country’s response to climate change.

There is no time to waste before the 2015 Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) starting November 30 in Paris. Canada needs to go to Paris with a strong position and the federal government must take the lead.

Canada must bring a new science-based emission reduction target to COP21 with the goal of achieving a universal, legally binding climate agreement that keeps global average temperature rise below two degrees Celsius.

This would replace the previous government’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), which would result in 2030 emissions levels 6% higher than 1990. For Canada to do its fair share, we must cut carbon pollution nationally by at least one third by 2025 (35% below 2005).

We also ask that at COP21, Canada:

– Increases our pre-2020 ambition and actions, creating a carbon reduction target higher than the inadequate 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 set by the Conservative government.
– Supports the inclusion of the goal to reach 100% renewable energy by 2050 within the Paris agreement.
– Promises to enshrine our emissions reduction targets in law.

Furthermore, to make our international commitments meaningful and set our country on a path that avoids catastrophic climate change, the federal government needs a national action plan that commits to:

– End subsidies and other measures that promote the growth of the fossil fuel industry
– Put a price on carbon, based on the polluters pay principle, to limit carbon-intensive forms of production
– Invest in a national renewable energy plan at a scale that will secure a low-carbon future.

Significant progress can be achieved by collaborating with the provinces, local governments, Inuit, Metis and First Nations, civil society and other concerned citizens to reach these goals.

The Paris COP21 agreement presents an enormous opportunity for Canada to chart a path towards a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable future. We are counting on the Government of Canada to step up to its responsibilities as a member of the international community, and represent the true interests of Canadians and future generations on the international stage.

Yours sincerely,

As the October 2015 election dust settles and many new MPs are setting priorities for their role in parliament, now is a great time to meet with your MP and discuss their support of conscientious objection to military taxation!

First, if you don’t know who is representing you in parliament, find your local MP using your postal code.  Then ask around and see if you can get any other friends, co-workers, family, or acquaintances to go along with you. The more the merrier!

Contact your MP directly to arrange a meeting, and bring a copy of at least a few of the items from our “Lobbying” page.

In particular, you might want to bring a copy of our pamphlet and the report on Nonviolent Alternatives to Canadian Defense and Security. You can print them off from the website or Conscience Canada can mail some copies directly to you, just contact us and let us know!

When you’re chatting, ask if they would be interested in promoting a private members’ bill to enable conscientious objectors to redirect the military portion of their taxes towards nonviolent peace and security-building programs. If they were to say “yes” that would be amazing, but if they say “no”, you can ask if they know of any colleagues who are concerned about the escalating cost of military expenditures and the problems associated with military procurement.

After you’ve met with them, let us know how it went! We’d love to hear from you. We can be contacted at info@consciencecanada.ca. or janslakov at shaw.ca.

Best of luck!

PS Since our film has been removed from Youtube, if you would like a DVD copy, we still have some. Again, just get in touch if you would like us to send you a copy.

Dear Joe Oliver,

Once again I write in support of a legal peace tax fund. It could be so easily implemented by your majority government. It could allow for the development of a desperately needed new vision for peace in our country and our world. For thousands of years governments and militaries have pursued the erroneous belief that one more war, one more bombing mission, one more act of violence and destruction will make their country and our world a safer place. And every time we go down this path of violence we become more fearful, we feel less safe, and we are detested and hated by those we choose to define as the enemy. And so the cycle continues……..

Continue reading →

by Dave Hubert

Fight, fight, fight the recurring Department of Defense recruiting ads urged my grandson as he watched the Maple Leafs and Canadiens do battle on Hockey Night in Canada. Join Canada’s Armed Forces. Fight fear, fight distress, fight chaos repeated the ads and the accompanying recruiting posters.

Fight, fight, fight the ads urged my only grandson, whose parents, his grandmother and I were bringing up to be a peacemaker, to resolve differences without resorting to violence.

Fight, fight, fight, like the Habs fighting the Leafs, concussions be damned.

Eagerly, with propaganda fuelled enthusiasm, our generals led by example.

Our sons and daughters fought in Afghanistan. And 158 came home in maple leaf shrouds. How many more came home with PTSD and, getting little help from the Chain-of-Command that sent them into battle, died by their own hand or sought solace in booze and dope? There was $22 billion of our taxes to fight the Taliban and make Afghanistan safe for the war lords and their opium production, but just a pittance to help our returning sons and daughters-the walking wounded. $22 billion to fight, but how much to make peace; to increase foreign aid and address the root causes of so much conflict; to expand mental health services; to improve aboriginal education; to restore the environment; to strengthen our democracy?

Continue reading →

 Yes, this world has far too many nuclear weapons. But people around the world are mobilizing towards nuclear abolition, especially in conjunction with the Non-Proliferation Treaty 5 Year Review conference at the UN in April, 2015: http://www.PeaceAndPlanet.org.

We urge citizens to write letters to acknowledge and celebrate the success of the negotiations to prevent Iran from joining the nuclear weapons club, and to lift sanctions, which were causing real hardship. To learn more about the breakthrough in negotiations, check out this link on the “Stars & Stripes” website:  http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/iran-nuclear-deal-world-powers-iran-reach-breakthrough-accord-1.338044 which “exists to provide independent information to the U.S. military community”.

Victor Postnikov, a translator, electrical engineer, philosopher living in the Ukraine writes about his homeland, as a “black hole for humanity”. His view of how greed and loss of ecological integrity has harmed his homeland can be seen as a parable for the whole planet.

http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/932/1/

Good evening. I’m Petra Bridgeman, and this is The National.

Today the Government of Canada along with the other Arctic nations gathered in Narvik, Norway signed NEENAC (No Extraction Exploration North of the Arctic Circle), the treaty making the Arctic Ocean and the surrounding continental shelves a mining-free zone. As a result of this treaty, all lands and waters north of the Arctic Circle will be out of bounds to extraction exploration and drilling. Minister Greenveldt said that the polar nations, along with all major Canadian oil and mining companies, now clearly see that the Arctic environment is too fragile for industrial development. Furthermore, it was acknowledged, such activity in this multinational region creates a high risk of military confrontation over rights of mining and transportation.

Minister Greenveldt will be back in the House of Commons tomorrow, not just to celebrate this achievement, but to get back to other Department of Peace initiatives waiting for parliamentary approval, notably the International Peace Stations in Kurdistan and northern Nigeria. He will then resume his cross-country tour to persuade Canadians to support these and other peace initiatives by voluntarily re-directing 8% of their federal income tax to the Department of Peace.

Here is a clip from his speech to the legislature in Regina last month: “Canadians, over the last decade and a half, have had their vision clouded by creeping militarism. But today, many have come to realize that they’ve been misled. Many now see that diplomatic negotiations and well-planned actions by people trained in conflict resolution are the best way to solve international problems. In the past we have reacted impulsively and aggressively and, frankly, blindly against those who oppose our interests in their part of the world. In our attempt to stamp out their fire, live sparks started up multiple fires locally and abroad. Despite all our military efforts in the first two decades of this century, there is now a self-styled caliphate in the Middle East basket. Because a significant number of Canadians have seen that violence is not the way to peace they are unwilling to support it with their taxes and have opted instead to support our new Department of Peace.”

Mary Groh and Eric Unger for Conscience Canada

A single word: RESIST! As simple and difficult a solution as that.

Terrorists of all stripes seek to frighten, to impose their ideas by fear, terror. Beheadings on the Internet, planes into the World Trade Center, and now massacre in the editorial boardroom of Charlie Hebdo. Not to mention kidnappings, torture, rapes, and remote bombings through rockets or drones.

First of all, we must help the victims and arrest the suspects to be judged in a court of law, quite obviously. And then, we must minimize the risk of further attacks because the necessary support of citizens will not be possible unless they feel reassured.

But beyond this minimum of justice and security, how to deal with this increasingly multifaceted and borderless terrorist threat? If this horrible attack against satirical journalists and cartoonists is clearly an attack against freedom of expression and democracy, can we afford to call it a “declaration of war”, as some have not hesitated to do? Because how do we spontaneously respond to any declaration of war? All too often, alas, by the Pavlovian response of “going to war”! And it is precisely, in my opinion, the last thing to do!

And why not declare war on these “barbarians”, these “enemies of humanity”?

• First, because it would give them reason: they do want war to impose their views and they would have managed to drag us onto their turf.
• Moreover, because it would have us use the same means (violence, repression, torture) that we condemn, in violation of the principles we claim to defend as our most precious values (human rights, rule of law, freedom, democracy).
• But above all, because war and violence have never been a true and lasting solution to the problems, violence or wars they pretended to solve (and recent History cannot provide more conclusive evidence: look at our most recent three “victorious” wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya!).

Does it mean keeping passive and waiting for better days? Of course not! TO RESIST is the exact opposite of passivity, as, properly understood, nonviolence has always been. TO RESIST means providing ourselves the capacity of standing tall, together, united and fearless. TO RESIST means going on with our lives without letting our attitudes and choices be dictated by this very fear that terrorists want to impose. TO RESIST also means resisting our desires for revenge, easy shortcuts and amalgams, looking for scapegoats. Because TO  RESIST means, above all, being able to stay open to the other, to build bridges rather than barriers, to love instead of to hate. Yes, learn how to love the other, the different, the Muslim. Because no other solution than love, in the most demanding and profound sense, can ever effectively respond to the horror.

– Dominique Boisvert