OCTOBER 2010 - IN THIS ISSUE

1) Beat the Drum Day of Action
2) Bill C-300
3) Peoples' Assemblies on Climate Justice
4) Sudanese and Canadian churches support Sudan referendum
5) Regional meetings slideshow

IN BRIEF
1) CIDSE and the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals
2) WCC publishes 'Justice not Greed'

FEATURE RESOURCE
The Land, Our Life Campaign Booklet

FEATURE PARTNER
Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini

REFLECTION
'The Land, Our Life' - Janet Gray

Next week: a special announcement on the December 5 action Beat the Drum: Changing the Climate on Indigenous Rights! This action is part of the current KAIROS campaign, The Land, Our Life: Indigenous rights and our common future.

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For more information please contact:
Julie Graham
Education and Campaigns Coordinator
jgraham@kairoscanada.org
1-877-403-8933 x 233

The Struggle for Mining Accountability Continues in the Wake of Bill C-300

KAIROS is deeply disappointed by the defeat of Bill C-300, which would have created new mechanisms to hold Canadian mining, oil and gas companies operating overseas accountable.

However, more Canadians than ever before are now aware of the need for mining accountability, and KAIROS will continue to push for change to ensure companies respect international human rights standards.

Read the full article on Bill C-300 >>

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For more information contact:
Ian Thomson
Ecological Justice through Corporate Accountability
ithomson@kairoscanada.org
613-235-9956 x222
toll free 1-877-403-8933

Peoples' Assemblies on Climate Justice,
November 29 -- December 10:
Get Involved!

Nations and civil society groups from around the world are meeting at the UN Climate Conference in Cancun from November 29 through December 10. Indigenous peoples in particular are gathering to assert their right to a place at the decision-making table. As you've read earlier in this Kairos Times, KAIROS and its communities will be standing in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples on December 5 in our "Beat the Drum" public witness action. We hope you'll join us.

If you would like to do a little more, why not consider holding or participating in a Peoples' Assembly on Climate Justice? Peoples' Assemblies are interactive gatherings that provide the opportunity for people to listen and be heard about what climate justice means to them, in their community and globally. KAIROS, along with the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition and the Indigenous Environmental Network, is endorsing a call from the Council of Canadians for communities to hold Peoples' Assemblies during the UN Climate Conference in Cancun.

If you would like to be involved, please contact:
Sara Stratton,
Education and Campaigns Coordinator for Sustainability
sstratton@kairoscanada.org
1-877-403-8933 x241.

Sara will help you access planning tools for the Assemblies and can help connect you with other interested folks.

Sudanese and Canadian church support historic South Sudan self-determination referendum on January 9, 2011

South Sudan will hold an historic self-determination referendum on January 9, 2011 as called for in the historic 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement ending the North-South civil war in Sudan.

A Sudanese ecumenical delegation lead by the Sudan Council of Churches, a KAIROS-funded partner, visited United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and the White House in October and stated that "the people of southern Sudan expect to fulfill their right of self-determination on 9th January 2011. Denial of this right, for whatever reason, represents a fundamental denial of their human dignity. Unity has not been made attractive and the causes of almost five decades of civil war have not been addressed and cannot be papered over. People in the south see the referendum as their opportunity to choose freedom. Cancellation or postponement of the referendum, or a perception that the referendum outcome does not match the will of the people, will not be understood by the people and will create a dangerous vacuum which could be filled by violence and even a return to war [see full statement]."

On October 26th, John Lewis and Jim Davis of KAIROS gave related testimony before the parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on Parliament Hill. They were consulted on ways in which the Canadian government could be more rigorously engaged in monitoring and peacebuilding during and after the referendum. This included the application of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security (celebrating its 10th anniversary), and the critical importance of the Sudanese Church in its prophetic role of speaking for the aspirations of the voiceless at such crucial times.

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For more information contact:
John Lewis,
International Human Rights Coordinator,
jlewis@kairoscanada.org,
416-463-5312 ext. 224,

or

Jim Davis,
Africa Partnership Program Coordinator,
jdavis@kairoscanada.org,
416-463-5312 ext. 238
Toll free 1-877-403-8933

We've created a Flickr slideshow with a few of the images from the KAIROS Regional Gatherings.

Click on the image below to view the slideshow.

Send us some more if you have them!!

Send your photos to newmedia@kairoscanada.org

FEATURE RESOURCE

'The Land Our Life' Campaign Booklet

Background information, stories, activities, and prayers for KAIROS’ 2010–2011 'The Land, Our Life' campaign.
20 pages
$5

To order contact:
Caroline Foster:
416-463-5312 x221
1-877-403-8933 x221
cfoster@kairoscanada.org

FEATURE PARTNER

Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini
Guatemala
Bishop of San Marcos, Guatemala

Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini is an internationally recognized human rights activist who advocates for the poor and marginalized of Guatemala. He is engaged in developing policy to bring about justice around resource extraction and rural development. He was very involved in the 1996 Peace Accords, and is active in the Recovery of Historical Memory Project in San Marcos (REMHI). Bishop Ramazzini is also the director of the Catholic Church's Land Pastoral that aims to resolve land conflicts and advocates for more equitable solutions to the mining projects in San Marcos where the Canadian mining company, Montaña, is engaged.

The Bishop's advocacy in both the REMHI and the Land Pastoral has resulted in his receiving death threats.

KAIROS' 'Migrant and Indigenous Program Coordinator' Alfredo Barahona wrote the article 'Humanized Globalization: Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples and Migrant Workers from Guatemala to Canada. A conversation with Bishop Ramazzini' on Bishop Ramazzini's visit to the KAIROS office in Toronto.

"In Guatemala, it is the poorest of the poor - the Indigenous and campesino communities - who suffer the negative impacts of mining. As Guatemalan civil society, we are pressuring our Congress to change laws so that companies respect community rights and the environment. Community members and human rights defenders risk their lives doing this. In Canada, the country of origin of many of these companies, it is important that civil society does the same - pressures the Canadian government to enact laws that will ensure that Canadian companies respect human rights and the environment."

Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini
Bishop of San Marcos, Guatemala

IN BRIEF

CIDSE offers a scathing analysis of the recent UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals

Many Canadians remain deeply committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aim to reduce global poverty and improve global health by 2015. These goals could be achieved if rich countries like Canada kept their promises to devote 0.7% of Gross National Income to aid and instituted financial transaction taxes to fund global public goods like clean water, sanitation and provision of antiretroviral medicines for persons with AIDS. To address the root causes of poverty developed countries must also transform International Financial Institutions and the rules governing trade relationships with the world’s poorest countries.

So how did the world fare at a recent UN conference to keep the MDGs alive? Essential questions raised, no meaningful answers provided… that’s how CIDSE sees it. CIDSE is an international alliance of Catholic development agencies working together for global justice; KAIROS founding member Development and Peace is one of its members. In this report, CIDSE decries the huge gap between rhetoric and real commitments.

Read the full analysis >>

WCC Publishes 'Justice Not Greed '

The World Council of Churches has just published Justice Not Greed an anthology of articles by Christian economists, theologians, ethicists and sociologists dealing with recent failures of the world’s financial structures. KAIROS Global Economic Justice Coordinator John Dillon has contributed a chapter to this book which provides economic analysis as well as biblical commentary and moral reflection.

View 'Justice Not Greed' >>

The Land, Our Life

A reflection given in worship at the BC/Yukon Regional KAIROS meeting at Sorrento, BC, October 3, 2010, by Janet Gray Scriptural readings: Isaiah 11:1-9, Mark 10:17-22 ------- The Land we stand on is sacred ground. We acknowledge this territory is the land of the Shuswap Nation. Oh how I wish that the vision of Isaiah’s Peaceful Kingdom was a reality; alas, it is not. We are surrounded here in Sorrento and everywhere we go in British Columbia by the Earth’s beauty and bounty – yet we are all only too aware of our collective impact on our local ecosystems. We live beyond our means. Projects and catastrophes like the tar sands, Fish Lake, hydrofracking for gas, the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill, the Niger River Delta and such are only just a few of the ways in which our over-consumption and greed are reflected. However … this Land is our Life. We are human beings that need air, water and food. We need shelter and communities. How can we as individuals and communities possibly live out a life of a sustainable nature on this sacred land? The KAIROS campaign this year focuses on Indigenous Rights, resource extraction and food security. The actions we as individuals must make do not seem easy – because they are not easy. We are an addicted people! We are addicted to the very resources which pollute our planet and make life for Indigenous peoples so terrible. Just as the rich man who left Jesus’ company was ‘shocked and grieving,’ we too have too many possessions - and too many addictions. Some Indigenous cultures require young men and women to embark on vision quests. A quest typically involves spending time apart, fasting and in intense prayer. This would not be an easy task. There is much work ahead for all of us to do and I believe we must prepare ourselves spiritually, mentally and physically for the job. For the task is ours to do. Every fall at this time sockeye salmon make an epic journey up the Fraser River to the spawning grounds of the Adams River, very near here. En route at least half will either be caught in fishing nets or will succumb to disease. After four years, two of which are in the ocean, the females will return to within one metre of where they were hatched. After laying their eggs, they will die. Their bodies will be recycled to feed bears, eagles, and even the surrounding forest. In an evolutionary universe, ordeal is natural. The determination of the salmon to give themselves to a greater purpose is built into the fabric of our own being as well. May we call upon the fierce resolve of the salmon to face the journey we must now make as agents of planetary repair. May it be so. Amen

Crane Medicine Woman by David Morrisseau