Published three times a year, Quaker Concern shares stories from the work of Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers). Each edition of Quaker Concern including brief highlights in the Keeping up with Friends section. These highlights touch on recent educational materials, open letters, news, and events relevant to our work.
Keeping up with Friends shares content from all of our program work, touching on criminal justice, Indigenous peoples’ human rights, and peace issues. It sometimes invites readers to take specific actions as led.
Each of the issues mentioned briefly in this section of Quaker Concern is described in more detail on our main website https://quakerservice.ca and so the items in Keeping Up usually link to specific parts of that site.
Latest joint statements Eight Quaker agencies, including CFSC, came together in mid-April to issue a new joint statement and calls to action for a just peace in Israel/Palestine. There are specific actions called for from Israel, Hamas, the Western governments, and Friends. You can read the statement and Quaker groups can endorse it: https://QuakerService.ca/DifferentFuture On…
Joint statements supporting Indigenous peoples’ human rights The Coalition for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples issued a statement. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is the most comprehensive international human rights instrument affirming the collective rights of Indigenous peoples and the individual rights of members of Indigenous Nations. Indigenous peoples worked…
Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel winning film awards In the Winter 2022 edition of Quaker Concern we wrote about CFSC’s funding support for Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel’s documentary film work. Since then, Ellen’s Kanàtenhs: When the Pine Needles Fall, has achieved several major awards! The honours include being Selected at the American Indian Film Festival 2022, an Honourable…
New statements and letters Since the last edition of Quaker Concern CFSC has released the following statements and open letters: In response to the immanent threats of forced eviction of the residents of Masafer Yatta https://QuakerService.ca/MasaferYatta On the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples https://QuakerService.ca/UNDeclaration15 Calling…
Canadians call on NATO to reduce nuclear risks Canada, as a member of NATO, relies on threats to use nuclear weapons. In April we joined a wide range of signatories in calling on Canada to energize negotiations by all governments toward nuclear disarmament. Find out more at: https://QuakerService.ca/NATONuclearRisks Discerning social concerns Several Quaker Meetings have…
Jerusalem Declaration In a previous issue of Quaker Concern we expressed misgivings about the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. CFSC recently decided to use the clearer Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism to inform our work. Ancestors Voice podcast Ancestors Voice is a new podcast hosted by Orrie Charleyboy and supported by CFSC’s Reconciliation Fund. Orrie’s vision…
Our favourite Indigenous films We’re often asked a question along the lines of, “Which Indigenous films does CFSC recommend I watch if I want to learn about Indigenous cultures?” To help answer this, we decided to create an easy-to-share one-page handout with our top picks. Get to Know Thee, Friend On the last Thursday…
Supporting Bill C-15 CFSC has been very active promoting Bill C-15, The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Together with our partners we’re helping to counter alarmist, misleading, and outright false statements that some are making about this Bill. This has taken the form of educational events, a piece in The…
No fighter jets Canada is attempting to procure new fighter jets that could turn out to cost $77 billion dollars. These jets are not needed for security and could produce tremendous harms to humans and to the environments where they are used. Polls suggest that the purchase is unpopular. Politicians need to hear from us.…
Quakers condemn systemic racism, commit to act In response to horrific acts of police violence against Black people and Indigenous people in the US and Canada, CFSC was part of two statements condemning systemic racism and calling for major changes: https://quakerservice.ca/racism and https://quakerservice.ca/policeviolence Webinars on right relationship with Indigenous peoples We have been part of…