Quotation of the monthStaff 
Parliamentary

"Canada takes public pride in valuing the protection of human rights and in maintaining stringent military export controls. But its voice in the arena of human rights will be utterly diminished, if not silenced, as Ottawa ploughs ahead with the implementation of this deal. And it could take decades to repair the damage."  

- Cesar Jaramillo, Executive Director of Project Ploughshares,The Globe and Mail, April 14, 2016 
Rescind the Saudi arms deal
Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images
 
Longtime MCC partner Project Ploughshares has been at the forefront of calling the Government of Canada to rescind an agreement to sell $15 billion worth of military equipment -- primarily light-armoured-vehicles -- to Saudi Arabia. Although the deal was first negotiated under the Conservative government, the export permits were personally approved by the Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister on April 8, 2016.
 
The key problem with the sale, as articulated by Ploughshares, is that it violates Canada's own export controls -- controls which are intended to keep military equipment out of the hands of governments with "a persistent record of serious violations of the human rights of their citizens" and that are "involved in or under imminent threat of hostilities." Saudi Arabia has a persistent record of human rights violations, is involved in hostilities in Yemen, and is believed to be funding armed groups in Syria.
 
Group of 78 -- together with many other organizations including MCC partners Project Ploughshares, Mines Action Canada, and CCIC -- issued an open letter to the Prime Minister on April 27, 2016, urging the export permits be rescinded.
House of Commons, Parliament
Parliamentary business:
A private member's bill and a submission to FAAE Parliamentary     

On April 21, 2016, Quebec MP Romeo Saganash introduced Private Member's Bill C-262 in the House of Commons. If ultimately passed, this bill would ensure all of Canada's laws would be in harmony with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and its insistence on self-determination for Indigenous peoples. A year ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for the Government to use the UNDRIP as a "framework for reconciliation."
 
Canada should provide more financial support for women's rights organizations and grassroots civil society organizations for peace-building efforts. This was one of three recommendations made by KAIROS to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE) on April 12 in Ottawa. According to KAIROS, despite clear evidence that women's organizations and movements have been at the forefront of defending human rights and promoting peace all over the world, the resources they receive are "shamefully scarce and declining."
New resource: For worship and learning
World Refugee Day worship resource

World Refugee Day will take place on June 20. MCC Canada has produced a worship and information resource called Hospitality and Hope to help congregations and groups mark this international day to commemorate the strength, courage and resilience of refugees around the world. A poster and accompanying video are also available for download.
 
KAIROS has just released a worship service resource built around the Blanket Exercise, a popular education tool to increase understanding of the history of Canada from an Indigenous perspective. Called Enfolded in the Creator, this resource adapts the teaching of the Blanket Exercise to the context of a traditional worship service with a seated congregation.
Plan a Blanket Exercise workshop or worship service (see above) for your congregation or group to help build understanding of Canada's broken relationship with Indigenous peoples. Rick Cober Bauman, MCC Ontario executive director, recently described the exercise as "a visceral, visual, walk and listen through 500 years of history" and as "one of the best popular education tools in a long time."
Monica & MCC Maritimes Advisory Committee member Sheilagh Henry.
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Parliamentary
On April 2 Monica Scheifele attended the MCC Maritimes Partners Day in Moncton, NB. This was an opportunity to meet the many organizations MCC Maritimes supports and to share about the work of the MCC Ottawa Office.

While in New Brunswick she also spoke at the River of Life Mennonite Brethren Church in Riverview and reconnected with many former friends and colleagues from her time with MCC Maritimes in the 1990s. 
Mennonite Central Committee | [email protected] |808-63 Sparks St. Ottawa ON K1P 5A6 | 613-238-7224 | mccottawa.ca
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