From Spring 2021

90 years of service - CFSC sends medical supplies to all sides impacted by the Vietnam war

90 Years of Service

2021 marks 90 years since Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) was founded. In preparation for our 90th anniversary, I have spent much of the last six months searching out and speaking with some of the Friends that have made CFSC’s work possible. Hearing these stories of triumph, persistence, and heartbreak has reaffirmed what I already…

Children walk down train tracks with the words "Friends on the Move"

Friends on the Move

None of us have gone anywhere during the pandemic, but we’ve covered great virtual distances in our witness for justice and peace. Jennifer Preston presented on Indigenous peoples’ human rights to Global Affairs Canada in a briefing session for officials going on international placements. She presented to graduate students at New York University on how…

An image of barbed wire in Jerusalem. What does it mean to be an apartheid state?

What Does it Mean to be an Apartheid State?

In the entire area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, the Israeli regime implements laws, practices and state violence designed to cement the supremacy of one group—Jews—over another—Palestinians.” So says B’Tselem, the premier Israeli human rights organization.1 The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid defines apartheid as…

In advancing the TRC's Calls to Action CFSC has provided individual grants like one to Cowichan Elder Hul'q'umin'num, teacher, and knowledge keeper Philomena Williams, to bring in a fish leather expert for teaching this ancient skill

Giving Life and Spirit to TRC Calls to Action

In June, it will be six years since the formal closing events commemorating the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the release of the 94 Calls to Action. Many thousands of people at the closing event heard the words of TRC Chief Commissioner Murray Sinclair: “If you thought the truth was hard, reconciliation…

Keeping up with Friends

Keeping up with Friends

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…

Inmates in a minimum security prison use a payphone like this one to stay in touch with family

The Lived Experience of COVID-19 in a Minimum Security Prison

During my years working in the youth justice field, I was often stunned by the repeated gaps I encountered between policy and practice. Policy was regularly recited as assurance that legal obligations were being met (all necessary medical and dental care was being offered, prisoners were free from physical punishment, and so forth). Frequently, the…