Photo: President Margaret Rao thanks our keynote speaker Tim McSorley of the ICLMG, and Rev. Lynn Harrison, who provided the Invocation.
On Friday, May 12th 2017, CUSJ members from across Canada gathered in Toronto for our AGM, an occasion to look back on our activities and successes in the past year, to take stock of the challenges that lie ahead, and to welcome new Board members and new Chapters.
The AGM took place at Don Heights Unitarian in Toronto. There were about 33 attendees: 22 CUSJ members on site, and 11 participating remotely. The meeting was preceded by a delicious vegan buffet, with many dishes whose names I did not recognize, but which tasted delicious. There were no leftovers!
During the business meeting, we revisited the many social justice causes that CUSJ has championed in the course of the year, which you can read about in our Annual Report. We said goodbye to Board members Ahti Tolvanen, Eryl Court and Christina Duvander, and welcomed new Board members Lynn Armstrong, Leslie Gillett, Leslie Kemp, Gustavo Frederico, and Sally Palmer Woods.
Tim McSorley’s speech gave us a better understanding of the threats to our democracy, and renewed our energy to continue to speak out for greater limits on the powers of security agencies.
CUSJ gained three new Chapters over the past year: Thunder Bay, Quebec and the Islands Chapter, bringing the total of active CUSJ Chapters and groups to at least seven.
Finally, we passed three new resolutions: one for a health-centered approach to psychoactive substances, a second for reforms to Canada’s criminal justice system, and a third, to continue the quest to bring Hassan Diab, a Canadian citizen imprisoned without charges in France since 2014, home to Canada.
Thanks to everyone who made this AGM a success, and to CUSJ members who are striving to make the world a fairer and kinder place! May we nudge the world a little closer to justice in the year ahead!