Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice
A national faith-based organization that supports Unitarian values through action
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
On September 18 2018, CUSJ President Margaret Rao sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and to Chrystia Freeland, asking them to terminate the arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Rao first commended the government for its principled verbal stand against Saudi Arabia’s recent arrest of women’s rights defenders. Then she went on to say, “If … 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
On Monday, May 21 2018, CUSJ AGM attendees were treated to a rousing speech from the Rideau Institute President Peggy Mason, entitled More peacemaking, less defence spending: What a Feminist Foreign Policy for Canada really looks like! Mason, as UN Ambassador for Disarmament and more recently as President and spokesperson for the Rideau Institute, has spent … 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
At the 35 second mark, there is a beautiful pronouncement by Rev. Emilie Smith.
In one of the many UU forums out there, a UU from Alberta expressed the view that not all UUs think pipelines are a bad thing. This person wrote: I do not see an end to the need for fossil fuels in my lifetime, even if all of our governments immediately agreed on a plan … Read more
Mr. Trudeau, lately, we are bombarded with media sound bites in which you claim that the Kinder Morgan Trans-mountain pipeline is “in the national interest”. Ahem. Canada is not a corporation. This pipeline is not in the national interest: This pipeline is not in the interest of British Columbians who bear the risk to their environment … Read more
This letter, by CUSJ Past President Frances Deverell, was published in the Victoria Times Colonist. In the National Interest? According to Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Horgan should compromise because this pipeline is in the national interest. Why is that? He doesn’t say. I see the national interest as one where all of us move in a … Read more
In the face of the Land Day massacre (March 30 2018), CUSJ was one of 40 groups that wrote a joint letter to Canadian politicians. In addition, CUSJ President has personally written to Prime Minister Trudeau on behalf of CUSJ, asking him to discontinue the odious Canadian tradition (because, after 70 years, that is what it … Read more
Above: On April 12th, a group of artists form a blockade in front of the gates of Kinder Morgan’s Burnaby Mountain tank farm as part of ongoing Indigenous-led resistance. “Let’s not forget in all the provincial and federal squabbling that the company still doesn’t have Indigenous consent and never will,” said Will George, Watch House project … Read more
The International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), together with 20 other groups, is campaigning to fix the flaws in Bill C-59, Canada’s national security act. As you may recall, in the past, CUSJ had submitted a brief with recommendations for improving Bill C-59. Here is the helpful infographic that ICMLG is using in its campaign. To view … Read more
On March 30, 2018, Israeli soldiers massacred at least 17 Palestinian civilians engaged in peaceful protest, and wounded 1400 others… as the world community stood by, aghast. And yet, this was “Just another day at the office” according to the IDF: Today, over 40 community groups and civil society organizations, including CUSJ, delivered an open … 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