From The Catalyst, Spring 2016
CPJ on the Hill
CPJ presented our Call for Climate Action to Catherine McKenna, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. The petition called on the federal government to develop an ambitious Canadian greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.
In February, CPJ submitted our pre-budget brief, Making Real Change for the Common Good, to the House of Commons Finance Committee. It identified key commitments made by this government that would advance public justice in Canada, including measures the federal government could take towards eradicating poverty in Canada and limiting global warming to 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels.
Joe Gunn presented at the Ontario Government’s Pre-Budget Consultations in Ottawa on behalf of the Inter-Faith Social Assistance Reform Coalition. The brief, Making the Best Investment Possible: People, noted that budgets reflect what we truly value. ISARC proposed that our governments and societies can always find the resources they need for their priorities and can therefore afford to do more to help people living in poverty.
CRA Audits of Charities
CPJ welcomed news in January that the federal government will end its program of auditing charities for their political activity. CPJ raised concerns about this program in our 2015 Election Bulletin and recently spoke with CBC News and the Canadian Press about what this new policy means for charities going forward.
Welcome Chris and Rachel
CPJ is very excited to have two new interns join us this spring!
Chris Hynes, our Social Work Intern, is completing a BSW at Carleton University. He is working with CPJ on the Dignity for All campaign and assisting us in our antipoverty work.
Rachel DeBruyn is our Communications Intern. She is currently a student at Redeemer University College and is in Ottawa as part of the Laurentian Leadership Centre. Rachel will be assisting CPJ in our outreach to churches and schools as well as conducting research and writing on refugee rights.
CPJ in the Community
In early March, Karri Munn-Venn was at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ont. She presented to a third-year sociology class and talked about CPJ’s involvement, as a faith-based organization, in the environmental justice movement.
In March, CPJ co-hosted Climate Action after Paris, an event in Ottawa that focused on responses to the Paris Agreement. Dennis Gruending interviewed Mardi Tindal (former moderator of The United Church of Canada) about her experience attending COP21. Karri Munn- Venn (above) led a discussion of next steps for Canadian communities of faith with Graham Saul (Ecology Ottawa), and Tony Clarke (Polaris Institute).
CPJ’s Darlene O’Leary, along with Megan Hooft of Canada Without Poverty, presented a webinar entitled Charity to Justice for the United Church of Canada.