General

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2014 edition of the Catalyst.
by David Pfrimmer

Last year, Pope Francis released his apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel).” In discussing the Roman Catholic Church’s renewed sense of mission, Pope Francis highlighted “the structural causes of inequality” and reaffirmed the social teaching of the churches: “No to the economy of exclusion. No to the new idolatry of money. No to a financial system that rules rather than serves. No to inequality, which spawns violence.”

• Public Justice – Now, More than Ever! By Will Postma
• Photos from 50th Anniversary Events
• Charity and Justice: Food Bank Volunteers Call for Government Action By Simon Lewchuk
• BC’s Carbon Tax: Reducing Emissions, Spurring Action
• Linking Justice and Faith in the Christian Reformed Church By Steve van de Hoef
• Participatory Budgeting: Let Canadians Decide on Spending Priorities By Simon Lewchuk
• Faith House By Miriam Illman-White

In December 2011, Jason Kenney, then minister of citizenship and immigration, pledged to increase the number of refugees by 20 per cent. However, the government actually decreased the number it resettled by 26 per cent. Only 5,412 government-assisted refugees arrived in our country in 2012, the second lowest number in any one year over the last three decades.

The spirit and presence of Gerald Vandezande was undeniable as CPJ’s board and staff received two opposition Members of Parliament, NDP Paul Dewar and Liberal John McKay, for a recent discussion on faith and public policy. The discussion was held as part of the November 1-2 Board of Directors meeting, and aimed to explore how best CPJ could translate its prophetic voice on key public justice issues into policy impact.

Planned Giving and Christian Stewardship Services Planned giving is a way of sustaining us into the future. CPJ is a partner of Christian Stewardship Services, a charity that assists both donors like yourself, and organizations like us, in the area of estate planning or planned giving. We recommend Christian Stewardship Services to our members and…

Sign-up to receive the latest news from CPJ. Read more

• Reaching for Right Relationships by Joe Gunn
• Somewhere in Between by Karri Munn-Venn
• Exposing the Myths: Canadians for Tax Fairness by Gail Dugas
• ​Book Reviews
• “Restorers of streets with dwellings…” by Henriette Thompson
• Moving from Memory to Healing and Joy by Lorraine Land
• Loyalty to “The Stranger”: Two Voices by Carolina Teves and Mark Glanville
• Falling in Love with the Earth by Stephen Bede Scharper

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.

• Fifty Years of Working for Change Together
• Taking Back Compassion: Reducing Inequality by Sarah Shepherd
• Refugee health: Churches need to speak out by Brad Wassink
• ​Building Public Justice Together by Lee Hollaar
• Building Homes, Building Lives: An interview with CPJ member and affordable housing developer Nick Volk
• Pipelines and Public Justice by Joe Gunn
• Growing Food Sovereignty in Gardens by Nettie Wiebe

Congratulations to Joe Gunn, who was recently awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for outstanding service to his community and to Canada.