Karri Munn-Venn

John Olthuis delivered the keynote address as CPJ’s 2013 Annual General Meeting in our 50th anniversary year in Edmonton.

The UN’s 82 member delegations gathered in Geneva on April 26 to review Canada’s human rights performance. Together, they issued 162 recommendations dealing with everything from racial profiling to food security and basic sanitation. Canada has committed to responding to the UPR recommendations by September. CPJ will join other civil society and Aboriginal organizations tomorrow, Tuesday, May 28, in a consultation with federal, provincial and territorial government officials (convened by the Department of Canadian Heritage) to provide input into the development of the official response. At this meeting, we will continue to urge government officials to take action on poverty, Aboriginal rights, and affordable housing.

In an article published in Embassy on May 8, CPJ unpacks the recommendations we made to Canada’s human rights review and the reasons action is so urgently needed.

As Canadians, we are famous for our constant conversations about the weather, but when it comes to larger environmental questions are we able to do more than just talk?

CPJ’s forthcoming worship and action guide, Living Eco-Justice: A Gospel Response to the Environmental Crisis (coming out later in 2013) will provide with information and inspiration to Canadian Christians looking for active ways to engage in the pursuit of abundant life for all creation.

Early in 2008, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills Development, Social Development and Status of People with Disabilities (HUMA) initiated a study on the federal role in reducing poverty. Since then, there has been a federal election and Parliament has been prorogued twice. There were times when we wondered if the results of this study would ever see the light of day. Then, last week Federal Poverty Reduction Plan: Working in Partnership Towards Reducing Poverty in Canada was released. The publication of the HUMA report seemed a victory in and of itself, but the content has us really excited.

Karri Munn-Venn appreciates David Korten’s inspiring vision of the possible in The Great Turning.

It’s tax time in Canada and people across the country are crunching their numbers, filling out the forms, and crossing their fingers for a good tax return. Chances are, very little consideration is being given to the benefit of paying taxes, or to the services we receive in return. 

The extent to which taxes have been disassociated from public services is astounding. Across the Canadian political spectrum, taxation is consistently presented in a negative light. Yet the truth about taxes is that they finance the mechanisms by which the health, safety, and well-being of our society are promoted. They also provide us with tremendous personal benefits.