Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice
A national faith-based organization that supports Unitarian values through action
Cym Gomery The CUSJ Board welcomes a new Board member and Webmaster, Terri Palmer, who happened to be sitting right beside Cym at our 2019 AGM. This was her first time attending a CUSJ AGM! I consider this to be marvellously serendipitous, and hope that she will enjoy the chance to connect with and serve UU social-justice … Read more
CUSJ member Philip Symons’ concise guide, Surviving Civilization’s Collapse, explores humanity’s history, its quirky psyche, and its options for survival. I recently attended a small group video presentation (Regeneration by Daniel Wahl) and discussion on the subject of climate change. It was evident from the reactions of the attendees, that for some (activists and news … Read more
How sad that the BC Ballet chose to support Israeli war crimes and apartheid, by performing as a Canadian cultural ambassador to the Zionist Israeli state in January 2019. The Canadian BDS Coalition, of which CUSJ is a member, has decided that, since B.C. Ballet will not boycott Israel, we will boycott BC Ballet. BC … Read more
On March 22 2019, World Water Day, McGill University and the City of Montréal were awarded Blue Community certification. Montréal thus joined a proud cohort of about 40 international cities with this certification, including Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Victoria B.C. and Burnaby B.C. (which became the first Blue Community in 2011). McGill is the fourth university … Read more
For over two hours hours on January 15, members of Homes not Bombs and Ottawa Raging Grannies staged a sit-in at the entrance to Global Affairs Canada, demanding a meeting with Chrystia Freeland, with what seemed like a tantalizing proposal: Freeland could, with the stroke of a pen, cancel the $15 billion Saudi weapons contract, … Read more
CUSJ members, and people of good faith everywhere, are shocked and saddened by the shooting of eleven worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pennsylvania on Saturday, October 27 2018. CUSJ President sent the Rabbi this message: Dear Rabbi Hazzan Myers and members of the congregation, Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice send our deepest … Read more
The federal Liberal government has decided not to appeal the court ruling that cancelled the pipeline based on the fact that the government failed to properly consult First Nations. The court also found the government’s approval of the project violated its responsibility to protect endangered Southern Resident killer whales, siding with Ecojustice clients Raincoast Conservation … Read more
The General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly took place between September 25 and October 1, 2018. World leaders gathered at the UN Headquarters in NYC, with a vast lineup of speakers on a variety of global issues. The September 25th speech by Antonio Guterres, Secretary General to the UN, included a … Read more
On September 16, 2018, the Unitarian Church of Montréal’s Social and Environmental Committee (SECC), the World Federalists, and the CUSJ Québec chapter hosted author Yves Engler, at the first stop on his cross-Canada book tour. Yves has just completed his tenth book: Left Right: Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada. The book shows how the … Read more
Remember Line 3? It was the pipeline that was proposed to replace Enbridge’s aging pipeline between the oil sands and Wisconsin. A previous CUSJ post sounded a hopeful note, since the Minnesota Department of Commerce had suggested that it might be better to shut down the existing line, since refineries in Minnesota and the upper Midwest already have … Read more
About 20 CUSJ members gathered at McMaster University in Hamilton (or in local speak, at “Mac” in “the Hammer”) to reflect on the year gone by and plan for the future. There were about 22 attendees, including two online participants. Leslie Kemp began by inviting chapters to share what they valued about the CUSJ; participants … Read more
At the 35 second mark, there is a beautiful pronouncement by Rev. Emilie Smith.
On March 14 2018, the Québec Chapter of the CUSJ attended Myron Frankman’s talk on Basic Income, which was hosted by Citizens in Action. Frankman’s talk was wide-ranging, and included an appeal for true global community as a panacea to climate change and catastrophe. Basic income can be seen as one step in the journey … Read more
Above: Salvador Dali’s persistence of time Imagine that you are enveloped in darkness. So dark, that you cannot see the hand in front of your face. There is no day, and there is no night. There is no sound. You are utterly alone, and you are trapped. Hours, days, weeks, months, years might have passed…you … Read more
Top photo: CUSJ Québec Chapter members Susan Czarnocki, Cym Gomery, Genevieve Patterson and Christina Duvander with the speaker, Elisabeth Patterson. On February 11, 2018, I made my way through the icy streets of Montréal to the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, to attend Elisabeth Patterson’s talk on the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of … Read more
Thanks to the French justice system, Hassan Diab is finally free today, January 12, 2018. Tim McSorley of International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group states, “This time is different. The other times were orders to release him on bail, not to end the charges. This decision actually ends the charges and orders his unconditional release. Apparently … Read more
I chatted with our outgoing editor Philip Symons, to explore what it has been like being editor of JUSTnews all these years. The questions, and Philip’s answers, appear below. How did you come to be Editor of JUSTnews? I took on the job of editor of JUSTnews when I retired as president of CUSJ at the … Read more
What a year 2017 was. As we contemplate the events of the past 12 months, what fun it is to pretend that we progressives could have our own Social Justice awards, a bit like the Oscars, minus the glitz and glamor, and with the understanding that the awards in this case are, virtual. Drumroll, please! … Read more
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. – Desmond Tutu On December 21, 2017, an historic vote took place in … Read more
Two-thousand seventeen has been a roller-coaster year for progressives (and I write this as someone who dislikes amusement parks). We started the year on a high note, eager to usher in electoral reform, only to learn that Liberal PM Justin Trudeau was backing out on his electoral reform promise. A big lie. However, we took … Read more