Participants in the KAIROS Ecumenical Delegation to the Alberta Oil Sands
The Rev. Bruce Adema is the Director of Canadian Ministries for the Christian Reformed Church in North America, and is the Christian Reformed Church's senior ecumenical officer in Canada. Previously he served in the Philippines as church planter, theological educator and seminary president. Before that, he pastored a church in St. Albert, AB. He and his wife Joanne make their home in Burlington, ON.
Dana Bush is a member of the Calgary Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers). She is a Professional Biologist with 14 years experience working in the boreal forest and throughout western Canada, conducting botanical surveys and writing impact assessments. She is an active member of the Alberta Native Plant Council and Adopt-a-Plant Alberta. She is the author of The Compact Field Guide to the Wildflowers of the Rockies.
Mary Corkery has been executive director of KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives since 2003. Prior to this she was English sector director at Development and Peace for 9 years. Mary has also worked with CUSO, OXFAM and The Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice. For 8 years, she worked with Toronto-based and national women’s organizations that countered poverty through education and advocacy.
Fabricio Guamán is an Indigenous Quichua who lives in Quito, Ecuador. He is
engaged in protecting Indigenous Amazon rainforest in Ecuador and coordinates
a network of urban groups "Red Napo" and "La Casa del árbol" that support this work and provides spaces for advocacy mutual learning between both worlds. Red Napo and La Casa del árbol are members of both the Acción Ecológica - Ecuador and Oilwatch South America networks.
Abe Janzen is the Executive Director of Mennonite Central Committee Alberta. Previously, he served in MCC Canada’s rural development program in Bolivia for 10 years. A teacher by profession, he also worked with Fairview College in La Crete and High Level. Abe, his wife, and two children live in Calgary. The addition of a grandson to that mix brings endless activity, and wonderful joy.
The Rev. Susan C. Johnson was elected National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada in June 2007. Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, National Bishop Johnson comes from a long line of pastors on both sides of her family.
Ray Jones, Hereditary Chief of the Gitxsan First Nation in British Columbia has been involved with his community's response to a coal-bed methane project on a part of Gitxsan territory in northern B.C. that is a vital watershed which feeds three important salmon rivers - the Skeena, the Nass and the Stikine.
Michael Keania Karikpo is the coordinator of the Oilwatch International network secretariat in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He is an Ogoni activist and lawyer who has been active in the campaign to have international oil companies in the Niger Delta stop the current widespread, environmentally destructive practice of gas flaring.
Sister Anne Lewans, osu is the General Superior of her religious congregation, the Ursulines of Prelate, and the vice-president of the Canadian Religious Conference which she represents on this delegation. Sister Anne grew up in a large family on a farm in southwest Saskatchewan. She has been a teacher, a Roman Catholic Chaplain at the University of Manitoba, a member of the Administrative/Leadership Team of the Diocese of Keewatin-The Pas, and for many years a member of the Leadership/Administration team in her religious community.
The Right Rev Thomas O. Morgan is the retired Anglican Archbishop of Saskatoon. He traces his roots to the family farm in rural Saskatchewan, and was educated in Saskatchewan and England. He served parishes in England for several years before returning to his home province where he served a number of rural parishes. He was ordained Bishop of Saskatchewan in 1985, and Bishop of Saskatoon in 1993. Bishop Morgan has served on many boards and committees of the Anglican Church of Canada, and is presently serving as chaplain to the Council of General Synod, and as a Director on the Board of the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund.
The Rev. Cheol Soon Park was installed Moderator of the 134th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in June, 2008. Mr. Park was born in Korea, and is the Church’s first Moderator of Korean descent. He is also the lead minister at Toronto Korean Presbyterian Church. Mr. Park has served on a number of national committees of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. He and his wife have three children.
Donald Peters has been the Executive Director of Mennonite Central Committee Canada (MCC) since 1991. He also served with MCC as country representative to Brazil.
The Very Rev. Bill Phipps is a former Moderator of the United Church of Canada (1997-2000). He is a member of the Peace Consortium of the University of Calgary, co-founder of the Faith and Common Good network, and on the board of Canadian Friends of the Oasis of Peace (Wahat al-Salam/Neve Shalom). He has been active in social justice, Aboriginal Rights, and peace issues for decades. He retired as minister of Scarboro United Church in Calgary in June of 2007. He lives in Calgary with his wife, writer Carolyn Pogue. They have 3 children and 3 grandchildren.
The Most Rev. V. James Weisgerber, Archbishop of Winnipeg, became the 32nd President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in October 2007. Born in 1938 in Vibank, Saskatchewan, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1963. Appointed Bishop of Saskatoon in 1996 by Pope John Paul II, four years later he was named Archbishop of Winnipeg.
As a member of the CCCB’s Executive Committee he has served on the Permanent Council of the CCCB since 2003; in addition, he has also served on various CCCB Commissions and committees. From 1990 to 1996, before being named Bishop, he was General Secretary of the Episcopal Conference.
