Latest news from Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers)
- Details
- Published on Friday, 29 January 2016 07:00
- Written by editor
February, 2015
Photo CC-BY Luis Prado, The Noun Project
Seeds of Peace: Positive Peacebuilding StoriesDo you have a good story about how you helped support peace? It could be something as “small” as organising a community activity or as big as directly saving someone’s life through active nonviolence. We'd love to share it!
Please check http://www.quakerservice.ca/SeedsofPeace for the questions to consider when preparing your article and download a flyer to pass out at your Meeting or put up on your bulletin board. This is an on-going initiative open to any writer, not just Quakers, so please feel free to share it.
CFSC seeks new Criminal Justice staff
Tasmin Rajotte, Coordinator of CFSC's Quakers Fostering Justice program committee is leaving CFSC to pursue her interests in ecological restoration. We will be hiring a new QFJ program coordinator with interest in criminal justice issues - look for the posting on the CFSC website next week. Find out more about CFSC's criminal justice work at http://quakerservice.ca/our-work/justice/ and please encourage anyone you know with relevant experience to apply.
Welcome Megan Shaw
We are pleased to welcome our new Office Assistant Megan Shaw! Megan will be working two days per week helping keep our office in order. Megan will assist with the great array of work that must get done so CFSC can offer programs that alleviate suffering and develop transformative and sustainable approaches to human rights, justice, and peace.Megan is an attender of Toronto Monthly Meeting where she helps to run games nights. She has a background in education, including special education. You can contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Last chance - apply now to be the 2016 CFSC Program Assistant!
CFSC is now accepting applications to be our 2016 Program Assistant. This is a four month paid position offering young people 19-29 the opportunity to learn about office work, program work, and to do direct service work in the community one day per week.
2015 Program Assistant Keira Mann had this to say, "CFSC opened up a range of possibilities for my future. They made my time here not just about what I could do for them, but also about what they could do for me. This is not your average summer job!"
Application deadline is Sunday, Feb 14. Please share with anyone you know who might be interested: http://www.quakerservice.ca/ProgramAssistant
Major victory for Indigenous children
The Government of Canada has been found by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to racially discriminate against Indigenous children on reserves. The federal government has provided unequal funding for child welfare services for First Nations children on reserves compared to non-Aboriginal children, resulting in inequitable services. One example raised was of a terminally ill child who was prevented from ending her life at home because of disagreements about which government body should pay for the medical equipment she required.
Due to the lack of social services available, there are more Indigenous children in care today than at the height of the residential schools system.
This decision has been a long time coming, after the previous federal government spent nine years fighting it, including through unlawfully withholding relevant documents, at a cost the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society reports to be $5.3 million dollars.
Tying the story in to Friends' concerns about civil liberties, Cindy Blackstock, who has no criminal record or reason to be of suspicion to commit a crime, learned during the course of the nine year case that she had been placed under surveillance by Canada's intelligence agencies, apparently because of her role in defending the rights of Indigenous children.
CFSC hopes this decision will finally mean swift and major improvements to the funding and availability of services offered to Indigenous children, in consultation with Indigenous Peoples.
APTN coverage of the decision: http://aptn.ca/news/2016/01/26/ottawa-discriminates-against-first-nation-children-says-historic-ruling-from-canadian-human-rights-tribunal/
First Nations Child and Family Caring Society media release, including a link to the full press conference video: https://fncaringsociety.com/i-am-witness
Information about CFSC's Indigenous rights work: http://quakerservice.ca/our-work/indigenous-peoples-rights/
Canadian School of PeacebuildingThe Canadian School of Peacebuilding has announced its summer courses for this year which will explore topics including Indigenous stories, restorative justice, community development, trauma healing, biblical healing, peace skills, and arts and peacebuilding. You can sign up for either or both of the two sessions June 13-17 and 20-24, 2016. All classes are at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg. Each session costs $542. For more information and to sign up visit: http://csop.cmu.ca/registration/
Spend July at the UN
CFSC partner the Quaker United Nations Office is offering the chance to learn about disarmament, trade, human rights, refugees, and North-South issues at the United Nations in Geneva. This program run from the 3rd to the 15th of July. Application deadline is March 7th.
Application forms are available at: http://www.quaker.org.uk/events/quaker-un-summer-school-2016 contact Helen Bradford for more information This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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