Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice
A national faith-based organization that supports Unitarian values through action
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
This text is a homily by CUSJ President Margaret Rao, of First Unitarian Church of Toronto, on the January 2019 theme of Change. Good Morning Everyone! I am grateful to be given the opportunity to share a testimony with you on my life as an activist. In keeping with the theme of change, an activist … 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 is proud to have endorsed the #StopJNF campaign, which seeks to revoke the Jewish National Front (JNF) Canada’s charitable status and expose, challenge and stop the JNF’s discriminatory and harmful activities. As explained in the campaign website, the JNF is a private corporation whose lands were obtained through exploitative land sales and often-violent, forced … Read more
Although all five hereditary clan chiefs to he Wet’suwet’en Nation have clearly stated their opposition, the Canadian Liberal government seems determined to go ahead with TransCanada subsidiary Coastal GasLink’s liquid natural gas (LNG) pipeline projet. This, in spite of the fact that doing so would: Fly in the face of the most recent report of … Read more
Jake Javanshir is an Iranian Jew whose family emigrated to Israel in 1950. Jake knows Israel well: he grew up there and served in the army, and he has many family members there still. Jake confides that, years ago, he became disillusioned with Israeli politics and moved to Canada. He has visited Israel a few … Read more
This post was modified on November 9th to include details of Rev. Eklof’s correspondence with a local synagogue. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane in Washington state, created quite a stir recently when they hosted the Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) who showed the film “Occupation of the American Mind” to the congregation. … 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
Indigenous groups and other humans who are not in climate denial have significant reason to celebrate today, as the Federal Court of Appeal has invalidated the government’s approvals to build the $7.4 billion Trans Mountain expansion project. The court, represented by Justice Eleanor Dawson, found that the federal cabinet based its approval of the pipeline … Read more
Editor’s note: This article was provided to CUSJ by Christine Johnston, with the permission of the author, Betty Krawczyk, who was famous some years ago as the Granny willing to go to jail for her support of the environment and especially the fight for Clayoquot Sound, near Torfino, on the Pacfic Rim, about which she … 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
New rules set fire to democratic process and burn voters New referendum legislation introduced by the PEI Government has been criticized for setting biased rules for the Island’s upcoming electoral reform referendum. “This is far beyond just tilting the playing field,” said Margaret Rao, CUSJ President. “Premier Wade MacLaughlin’s proposed rules will torch the whole … Read more
NOTE: CUSJ President Margaret Rao sent this letter to the PMO on February 20th 2018. Copies were sent to Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Global Affairs, and Jody Wilson Raybould, Minister of Justice. Dear Prime Minister, On behalf of Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice (CUSJ), I would like to thank you and Minister Freeland, and the staff at … Read more
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
Saturday, March 10th 2018 was a day for the history books, as thousands marched in an indigenous-led protest against the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline. Coast Salish spiritual leaders and members raised a traditional Coast Salish Watch House* near the pipeline route, which will act as a base for resistance to the project. In addition … Read more
This particular JUSTnews issue–winter 2018–deals with the history of the CUSJ, giving it a timeless quality. It is former editor Philip Symons’ last issue. This issue could be a useful resource to have on hand for anyone who wants to know more about CUSJ! Click here to view it.
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
Mary Bennet of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver reports: What an event we hosted last night [Feb 19 2018] at UCV. Thanks to the Environment Committee, the Board, the musicians, the speakers, the artists and groups who donated items for the silent auction.. and Tamiko Suzuki – our great emcee for the evening. I was … Read more