Archive for June 2019

Acting on an Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

June 26, 2019

KAIROS Canada is deeply disappointed that Bill C-262, while passed by elected officials in Parliament, will die on the Order Paper in the Senate. Since it is highly unlikely that the Senate will meet again before the writ for the…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates

Spirited Reflection: It’s about time…

June 25, 2019

We live in a culture where there are many different types of time: chronological or calendar time; justice time(“that should have happened years ago”); convenient time(“when I get around to it”); “when the time comes”, fantasy time; “there is no…

Post filed in: Spirited Reflections

America is a mass grave

June 25, 2019

An ensemble of living and non-living beings is calling an alarm: América es una fosa común. America is a mass grave. According to the Government of Mexico, at least 200,000 people have been murdered and 40,000 people have been disappeared since 2006…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Migrant Justice

Trailblazer: Rewriting HydroQuebec’s controversial past

June 25, 2019

A just transition to a clean energy economy in Canada cannot be successful without the inclusion of remote communities. In mid May, a promising step forward was taken with the signing of an agreement between an Inuit corporation and an…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

Global perspective for just transition

June 25, 2019

We are facing a global climate emergency. The science is clear. ‘Business-as-usual’ is directly contributing to a warming planet and extreme weather. Since societal change is essential, people are gathering in town-halls across the country to discuss ideas for radical…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

KAIROS Times: June 2019

June 22, 2019

Hot off the press! The June 2019 KAIROS Times Newsletter.

Post filed in: KAIROS Times E-Newsletter

Bill C-262 in limbo

June 21, 2019

Time may have run out on Bill C-262. Although originally scheduled to adjourn on June 28, the Senate is now expected to wrap up today, National Indigenous Peoples Day, leaving several bills, including Bill C-262, in limbo. In an Open…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates

Spirited Reflection: Ancestors, Imagined

June 21, 2019

Recently, I was fortunate to witness the Guatemalan expression of the KAIROS Blanket Exercise while in Toronto, Ontario. As a First Nations woman, I was struck by the similarities of this story of colonization to the one I had come…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections

Spirited Reflection: Imagine

June 20, 2019

At a recent KAIROS Blanket Exercise (KBE), the facilitator commented that he often wonders what Canada would look like today if, instead of having forced Indigenous communities to adapt to colonial ways, the European colonists had assimilated the ways of…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections

KAIROS celebrates new Caregiver Pilot Programs and extension of the Interim Pathway

June 19, 2019

KAIROS Canada applauds the Government of Canada for delivering on its promise of improving the lives and working conditions of migrant caregivers. At a press conference on June 15, the Minister of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada unrolled two new…

Post filed in: Migrant Justice

Retarder les projets de loi C-262 et C-337 mine le processus démocratique au Canada, et met en danger la réconciliation ainsi que la protection des droits humains

June 19, 2019

Une motion unanime des 338 députés de la Chambre des communes déclare que les deux projets de loi actuellement devant le Sénat, les projets de loi C-262 et C-337, sont « des mesures législatives majeures » qu’il est urgent «…

Post filed in: En français, Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates

KAIROS urges Parliament to pass key human rights bills before time runs out

June 19, 2019

(Ottawa, ON) – KAIROS Canada joins Indigenous nations, organizations, and other human rights defenders in an urgent call to Parliamentarians to pass two critical bills that have been stalled in the Senate. In an Open Letter released on June 17,…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates

The United Church at COP24

June 18, 2019

The intergovernmental panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report, which warns that the world has 12 years to limit warming to 1.5°C or face catastrophic losses from climate change, created a sense of urgency at this year’s annual Conference of the…

Post filed in: Ecological Justice

KAIROS partner in BC: Néné Lubalal highlights the need to empower women peacebuilders

June 18, 2019

KAIROS partner Néné Lubala from Heritiers de la Justice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rachel Warden KAIROS, partnership manager, met with members of the local KAIROS committee while in Vancouver for the Women Deliver Conference. Néné…

Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage

Stalling on Bills C-262 and C-337 undermines Canada’s democratic process, jeopardizes reconciliation and fails to protect human rights

June 17, 2019

17 June 2019 Open Letter to Parliamentarians A unanimous motion of the 338-member House of Commons said that two bills currently before the Senate, Bills C-262 and C-337, are “critical pieces of legislation” and urged that they be “passed into…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates

Advocates continue to push for Indigenous rights bill as deadline looms

June 17, 2019

A bill which would harmonize Canadian law with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) would need to restart its life in the House of Commons—after the federal election—if not passed by the senate before June…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates

KAIROS’ migrant justice workshop at the 2019 Cahoots Festival

June 14, 2019

An excerpt from “Justice and solidarity at the Cahoots Festival: Annual gathering equips Christians to live out Social Gospel” published in the Anglican Journal.  The second full day of Cahoots began once more with morning worship. A period of prayerful contemplation encouraged participants to look back on the…

Post filed in: Migrant Justice

Spirited Reflection: Mourn and organize

June 13, 2019

An excerpt from Jennifer Henry’s Opening Remarks, Streams of Justice at the KAIROS Atlantic Gathering in May I begin in gratitude…and from memory .  .  . In a crowded Scarborough church, with a table full of candles, and media pushing…

Post filed in: Regional News, Spirited Reflections

KAIROS welcomes Canada’s first-ever Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security

June 13, 2019

KAIROS joins other members of the Women, Peace & Security Network-Canada (WPSN-C) in applauding the Government of Canada for the appointment of Canada’s first-ever Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security and in welcoming Jacqueline O’Neill to this new post. WPSN-C…

Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage

Hyperbole and misrepresentation must not prevent Senate passing Bill C-262

June 11, 2019

We are hopeful that in a matter of days the Senate will vote to adopt a private member’s bill that would require the federal government to begin in earnest the work of implementing global human rights standards to protect the…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights

Urge the Opposition leader to stop senate filibustering of Bill C-262!

June 6, 2019

Bill C-262 is in trouble. On Wednesday, June 5, Senator Don Plett refused a motion from Senator Lillian Dyck to allow the Senate Committee to proceed with its scheduled review of Bill C-262. The five senators who have been filibustering…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates

KAIROS attends closing ceremony of the National Inquiry into MMIWG

June 3, 2019

As today we participate in the closing ceremony of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, our hearts are heavy. Heavy with mourning for those who have died, whose absence demands memory and honour. Heavy with…

Post filed in: Indigenous Rights