An historian at Trent University recently uncovered the fact that in 1951 the Prime Minister of Canada authorized a top secret surveillance program about which Parliament was kept in the dark. The program, code-named “Picnic”, involved spying on Canadians felt to be “subversive” for reasons including in some cases that they were homosexuals. In 1954,…
There are striking parallels between Indigenous Peoples in Canada and Colombia. This is a hemisphere where efforts have been made since contact to eliminate Indigenous Peoples through policies of physical and cultural genocide. While there are clear differences, the shared experiences are of structural discrimination and destructive policies leading to marginalization, displacement, and barriers to…
Ten years ago I gave the annual Sunderland P. Gardner lecture at Canadian Yearly Meeting on the theme Toward a Culture of Peace: Can we afford to pay the price? It was a time, like today, when the human race faced a combination of threats to our very existence. The Cold War ended long ago,…
Thank you readers Thank you to everyone who answered our reader survey. As a result of your feedback, we’re pleased to launch a new website for Quaker Concern: https://quakerconcern.ca! We hope the site will make it easier to read Quaker Concern online, particularly for those using mobile devices, and to share individual articles with family…
We are happy to welcome Maggie Sager, who will serve as CFSC’s Summer Program Assistant from May to August. Maggie will not only support the smooth functioning of the office here at Friends House in Toronto, but will also provide direct assistance to the program committees as they do CFSC’s service work. Maggie is pursuing…
It’s been over 35 years since Canadian Quakers approved a Minute on abolishing prisons, reflecting that “the prison system is both a cause and a result of violence and social injustice,” while recognising a “need for [compassionate] restraint of those few who are exhibiting dangerous behaviour.”1 This concept remains shockingly radical in mainstream society. A…