It was the dawn of Beatlemania. The Leafs won the Stanley Cup. Lester Pearson was Prime Minister. We flew the red ensign as our national flag.
This was Canada, circa 1963. But beneath the surface of Canadian society, something unique was stirring: a movement to extend the Gospel’s Good News well beyond church walls and into the very fabric of our life, including political life. A small group of young Christian activists in Edmonton created the Christian Action Foundation, which would later join with the Committee for Justice and Liberty to become Citizens for Public Justice.
Some 50 years later, CPJ now has a long history of speaking out for public justice across Canada. From the early beginnings promoting a Christian view of the government in the 1960s, the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline moratorium in the 1970s, social policy, recycling, and tax reform in the 1980s, to deepening work on child poverty and refugees in the 1990s, our move to our nation’s capital in 2007, the launch of the Dignity for All campaign in 2009, and the reemergence of a public justice perspective on the environment, CPJ has remained a constant, active voice in Canadian public affairs.
Our history includes many people of different backgrounds coming together to speak with one voice. Explore our history below – and join us as we move forward in the next chapter of CPJ.
