Friends on the move
Peace Program Coordinator Mel Burns delivered a peace education workshop in Montreal, an intergenerational creative nonviolence/craftivism workshop at Atlantic Half Yearly Meeting in Prince Edward Island, and was a Quaker United Nations delegate at the first annual UN peacebuilding week in New York.
Mel at the United Nations in New York
We’re celebrating 95 years of peace and social justice work! To kick our birthday party off, Sandra Wiens was in Burnaby, British Columbia for a film screening of long-time CFSC partner Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel’s award-winning documentary When the pine needles fall followed by a discussion with CFSC partner Haana Edenshaw about her Indigenous rights activism.
Sandra then visited Western Half Yearly Meeting in Sorrento, BC where she spoke about CFSC’s work and engaged Friends in a discussion of the film The third harmony, about the topic of active nonviolence. Sandra and Mel also attended and supported the protests of CANSEC in Ottawa alongside various Friends (see Keeping up with Friends).
Sandra was also invited to the swearing in ceremony of the new Commissioner for Corrections, Talal Dakalbab.
Jennifer Preston participated in meetings of the governance committee of the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), New York to share about CFSC’s work with QUNO at the UN in support of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights.
For more than two decades CFSC has been active at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and 2026 was no exception. We were on the move with plenary statements, side events, Quaker House events—including our annual Quaker House dinner and hosting the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus early every morning—North American caucus meetings, Canada events with former Governor General Mary Simon, Ambassador David Lametti, and Senator Margo Greenwood, and more.
The Forum is such a great place for relationships to flourish! It is also important with our partners to remind Canada on the international stage of commitments that need honouring. The UN is a critical space for CFSC to advocate in an ongoing manner on the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Also Jenn met Sarah Bear, our now staff person, at the Forum!
Jenn also travelled to Montreal to meet with long-time CFSC partner Paul Joffe.
Karen Ridd represents CFSC on the Canadian Council of Churches Working Group on Restorative Justice. And she represents that body on the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy (IFC) in the Correctional Service of Canada. On behalf of the IFC, Karen made a site visit to Edmonton Institutions for Women (a federal prison) in May. These visits involve meeting people who are currently incarcerated, to ensure that their diverse spiritual needs are being met.
The Centre for Research into the Processes, Outcomes, and Impacts of Incarceration held its annual conference in St. Catharines, Ontario in May. Karen co-presented twice at the conference: Beading beyond bars, a handcraft and education workshop with Lisa Bowden, and on the findings of CFSC’s report on who profits from prisons, with report co-author Lindsay Hunt.