Archive for 2019
Spirited Reflection: Jesus outside the gate
July 3, 2019
On June 7, in what is likely to be his last meeting of the KAIROS steering committee as a representative of The United Church of Canada, Jim Hodgson, shared this reflection. In this reflection, I am inspired by Mary Pezzulo’s…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
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
Spirited Reflection: Singing God’s song as exiles in your own country
May 30, 2019
How could we sing the God’s song in a foreign land? (Psalm 137:4) During the 6th century BCE, Jerusalem was plundered, and its leading citizens were dragged off to exile. By the rivers of Babylon, the voices of these…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
Urge senators to stop filibustering Bill C-262
May 28, 2019
Bill C-262 is now before the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples. There are strong concerns that some senators are engaging in filibuster tactics to undermine the bill while in Committee. This includes introducing amendments. Any amendment will in effect…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, UNDRIP Blog Updates
Podcast Interview: Indigenous orientation toolkit for newcomers
May 24, 2019
Listen to the feature story on BeCause Radio (2:27 – 13:03). KAIROS is part of an exciting project developing in Winnipeg to orient newcomers to Canada around the truth about Indigenous people. This project seeks to foster safe spaces for…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
KAIROS Times: May 2019
May 22, 2019
Hot off the press! The May 2019 KAIROS Times Newsletter.
Post filed in: KAIROS Times E-Newsletter