September 2014  

Project reveals "healthy complexity" of advocacy     

 

When it comes to MCC's advocacy to government, certain topics are bound to raise concerns among some of MCC's constituents: namely, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, First Nations issues, and mining justice.  

 

Interestingly, MCC's advocacy on those same topics also generates support, particularly when it highlights the human dimension of these issues.   

 

This is just one example of the "healthy complexity" uncovered in a six-month-long research project undertaken by the Ottawa Office, in collaboration with the provincial MCCs. The project, guided by the Centre for Community Based Research in Kitchener, Ontario, was intended to gauge levels of support for MCC's advocacy to government, in order to make this work more effective.

 

The research involved interviews with 13 "key informants" across the country, 17 focus groups involving 130 participants, and a literature review.   

 

A final report concludes that support for MCC's advocacy to government is stable and growing, despite ongoing questions and concerns. An executive summary is available.

Parliamentary business:    
What to watch this fall

As Parliament resumes on September 15 after a three month recess, our Ottawa Office staff will continue to track motions and bills moving through Parliament that directly relate to MCC's priorities, approaches and values.

We will monitor a wide range of issues, including private members' bills on conflict minerals, and corporate social responsibility for extractive corporations in developing countries. The Cluster Munitions Act has moved to the Senate, and there will be several "crime bills" including one on tougher penalties for child predators.

We'll also be following the debate around missile defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development's consultations on the civil society partnership policy.

Feel free to contact us about any of these bills.
New resources:
for Peace Sunday & Thanksgiving      

MCC's 2014 Peace Sunday Packet is now available. It focuses on the 100th anniversary of the First World War and the biblical image of swords being turned to ploughshares.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank has once again prepared worship resources for Thanksgiving and World Food Day.  This year's theme is "Enough for All."

 

Ottawa Office Newsletter archives
Read previous editions of our newsletter here
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In This Issue
Feature Article
Parliamentary Business
New Resources
Newsletter archives
Take Action
Staff Update
 
Quotation
of the month 

"The job of the peacemaker is ... to stop war, to purify the world, to get it saved from poverty and riches ... to heal the sick, to comfort the sad, to wake up those who have not yet found God, to create joy and beauty wherever you go, to find God in everything and everyone."

-- Muriel Lester, 1885-1968, international ambassador for peace 
Take action:
Support CO in Colombia   
MCC partner Justapaz urgently requests  solidarity and action on behalf of Colombian conscientious objector Jhonatan David Vargas Becerra, who was once again detained for refusing to perform obligatory military service.

MCC wrote to the Ambassador for Religious Freedom on Jhonatan's behalf in 2013, when he was first arrested.

Colombia's Constitutional Court has established that CO is a right, but this ruling is not respected by the Colombian military.  
Staff update:

Rebekah Sears 

Policy Analyst  

    

   

The Ottawa Office is pleased to announce that Rebekah Sears will be joining our team for a nine month position as Policy Analyst, from Sept. 15, 2014 to May 31, 2015.   
 

For the last two and a half years, Rebekah has been working as Policy Educator and Advocacy Worker with MCC in Colombia. We look forward to welcoming her back to Ottawa where she has previously worked and studied. 

 
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