Inner peace, outer peace, building peace
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- Published on Thursday, 02 June 2016 17:15
- Written by editor
June, 2016
Peace Program Coordinator Matt Legge at Vancouver Monthly Meeting, May 15, 2016. Photo credit: Fred Bass
Inner Peace, Outer Peace, Building Peace May was a busy month for us with CFSC staff and members leading workshops on penal abolition, Indigenous rights, and peacebuilding. We traveled to dialogue with Friends on the east and west coasts, including exploring peaceful options for Canada's involvement in international conflict and how this connects to peace within ourselves and our communities; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the on-going process of reconciliation; and alternatives to harm in the criminal justice system. These were hands-on, practical, and enriching experiences and we thank everyone who participated. You can see some of the pictures from these sessions on the CFSC Facebook page and we encourage you to request a visit from CFSC if you’d like to explore any of these topics in depth with your Meeting or group.
Major new resource on Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)
CFSC participated in creating a major new volume on Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). The issue of Northern Public Affairs is available online or in print, and features a range of perspectives from leading voices in the field. Stories and experience shared in the volume are informative about FPIC in Canada and internationally. Have a look at: http://www.northernpublicaffairs.ca/index/available-now-read-our-digital-issue-on-free-prior-and-informed-consent/
CFSC partner recognized by Status of Women Canada
CFSC has worked closely with Ruth Martin of the Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education at the University of British Columbia, in particular around the development of Guidelines for Implementation of Mother-Child Units in Canadian Correctional Facilities. We are very pleased to see her work receiving the recognition it deserves with an aware from Status of Women Canada http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/commemoration/gg/recepient-en.html#martin
Read the Guidelines at: http://quakerservice.ca/news/guidelines/
Joint statement delivered at United Nations
On May 12, CFSC joined with partners to issue a joint statement delivered by National Chief Perry Bellegarde at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The statement highlights the importance of implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and notes, “We need the UN Declaration precisely because so many of the laws and policies affecting the lives of Indigenous Peoples rest on foundations of colonialism and racism.” http://quakerservice.ca/news/unpfii-2016/
CFSC submission on solitary confinement
CFSC has made a submission to the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Service as they review the use of segregation (commonly called “solitary confinement”). The submission raises Friends’ serious concerns with the many potential harms produced by various forms of segregation. It also notes, “As pointed out by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the federal Office of the Correctional Investigator, the Ashley Smith Inquest, and the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth in Ontario, segregation is overused for certain groups: Black and Indigenous prisoners; those with mental health disabilities; women; and youth.” Read the submission at: http://quakerservice.ca/news/segregation/
River Run 2016. Photo credit: Matt LeggeCFSC joins in #RiverRun2016
Continuing Friends’ long standing work in support of Grassy Narrows First Nation CFSC participated alongside thousands at the River Run event in Toronto earlier today. Since the 1970s when Friends helped identify mercury poisoning among the members of Grassy Narrows, we have been among the many groups calling for Ontario to adequately respond to this crisis. See more photos from today's event at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154114360245149.1073741840.112772730148&type=3
Held under the slogan “healthy river, health people,” this year’s River Run came just days after CBC and others reported on a new study finding that it is possible for the government of Ontario to clean up the toxic mercury in the English-Wabigoon River system. Learn more at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/grassy-narrows-mercury-report-1.3604183 and http://www.freegrassy.net
If you feel moved to take action, Grassy Narrows has started a petition at: https://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/clean-up-the-mercury-that-s-poisoning-grassy-narrows-water
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