Friends on the Move
In may our government relations representative Sandra Wiens attended Western Half Yearly Meeting in Sorrento, British Columbia. She delivered a talk—Weaving Change: Engaging Friends with CFSC Advocacy—about her work in Ottawa.
Jennifer Preston, Jeremy Vander Hoek, and Rachel Singleton-Polster were in Geneva, Switzerland in July for the in-person session of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Throughout the week they were able to host a quiet diplomacy dinner between states and Indigenous peoples’ human rights experts, support partners on delivering statements from the floor, and help facilitate a side event on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
Jennifer stayed in Geneva for a second week to attend an intersessional meeting of the UN Human Rights Council focused on enhancing the participation of Indigenous peoples in the UN. CFSC and many of our partners have been following this subject for several years. This intersessional meeting—along with the upcoming one in October—is an exciting step in this effort, as it will result in concrete recommendations being put forward to the UN Human Rights Council.
Program Coordinator Karen Ridd has been busy with public talks. She led a session on transformative justice and penal abolition for the student encampment in support of Palestine at the University of Winnipeg.
She also gave presentations at the Annual General Meetings of the Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties and the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Manitoba. Additionally, Karen attended the Abolitionist Intimacies Symposium in Halifax, where she stayed with CFSC member Jocelyne Tranquilla.
Karen, Jeremy, Jennifer, CFSC Clerk Vince Zelazny, and out-going Treasurer Pete Cross enjoyed their time representing CFSC at Canadian Yearly Meeting in session at Camp NeeKauNis. (Many more CFSC members were present virtually.) At camp Jennifer gave a presentation about her work in support of Indigenous peoples’ human rights and how it has paved the way for other effective CFSC advocacy work on peace and social justice issues.
We welcome new CFSC members Kathy Bickmore (transformative justice work), Geoffreyjen Edwards (peace work), Derek Nice (Treasurer), Siân Bowen-Cole (peace work), and Laurens van Esch (Indigenous rights work).
Communications Coordinator Matt Legge facilitated a workshop at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. Later one participant wrote to thank us when a conflict she’d been experiencing, which had been causing great stress, was positively transformed using the listening skills she’d practiced! You can practice these skills too. We’re happy to facilitate a free workshop for groups of 10 or more, or you can join a group by getting on the wait list at: https://QuakerService.ca/Register