Archive for Non-violence

Tonight!  (Shoulda blogged this sooner, but I forgot).  An opportunity to see representatives of the NDP, Liberals, Green Party of Canada and a Progressive Conservative senator talk about Peace and Justice together.

Public Forum: The Human Right to Peace: Full Time Work
Friday, 2008 April 4, 7:30-9:30 pm
Church of the Holy Trinity
10 Trinity Square
(behind the Toronto Eaton Centre at Bay south of Dundas)
$10? (I can’t remember the cost)     Read more »

Lifted directly from the Green Party of Ontario website, an issue that’s really important to me:

On 15 February 2008, former chief Robert Lovelace began serving 6 months in jail for refusing to comply with a court injunction, while following Algonquin law to protect the land.

Robert Lovelace is a Political Prisoner

    Read more »

While Canada has a low incidence of gun crime, Toronto has had recent problems with gun fatalities, including some affecting uninvolved bystanders. It’s time to tackle this issue. Toronto Greens recommend a three-prong approach of strong gun control, strong enforcement and strong prevention measures.     Read more »

Prime Minister Harper is intervening on behalf of Canadian Mohamed Kohail, sentenced to beheading in Saudi Arabia.  Obviously, this is a good thing.  We don’t support capital punishment in Canada, and there are questions about the way trials are conducted in Saudi Arabia.

What’s upsetting is that Harper is not intervening in other cases.  Three months ago, he announced that Canada would not intervene in death penalty cases in democratic countries.  He thus overturned decades of precedent in Canadian diplomacy and incurred the wrath of many human rights organizations and the Anglican Church of Canada.  As a result, at least one Canadian, Ronald Smith, is likely to be executed in the United States.

The gun registry is supported by police associations and most Canadians.  The Conservatives, who have made a point of saying they’re tough on crime, don’t want to put a vote on the gun registry to the House of Commons.  They certainly don’t want their government to fall on this issue.

So they’re killing the registry by funding cuts and amnesties.  According to CTV:

The Liberals say the Conservatives are unwilling to debate the issue in the Commons and have instead submitted the latest proposed regulations in the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the Canadian government.

“Instead of putting the future of gun control to an honest vote in the House of Commons, they are achieving the same ends through back door tactics like sweeping amnesties and funding cuts.”

The measure would push back an amnesty originally issued in 2006. An extension set to end later this spring could now be in effect until May 16, 2009.