Keeping up with Friends

2025 federal election kit

The Spring 2025 issue of Quaker Concern is all about Canada’s federal election happening April 28th. We hope this special issue will inspire you to ask peace and social justice questions of candidates seeking election. You can find our full nine-page election kit at: https://QuakerService.ca/Election

Statement on US-Canada trade war

The US has initiated a trade war with Canada. It’s very unclear what the ultimate plans of the US administration are. The deep uncertainty that Canadians are facing—whether to interpret rhetoric about annexation as a US negotiation tactic or a deeper threat—is resulting in a range of feelings and experiences such as fear, anger, and betrayal.

At Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers), we are clear that, as in all wars, this situation will create mostly losers. It will cause great suffering to almost all while further enriching a very few.

We call for continued relationship building with the US. We urge dialogue and diplomacy. We support acts of compassion—a form of bravery that resists simple narratives and refrains from demonizing the other side or distancing from them. We acknowledge with thanks and hold in the Light all those in the US who are practicing noncooperation and otherwise protesting this trade war and other harmful government policies.

We are disturbed by the voices we hear within Canada loudly proclaiming the need to strengthen the military as a means of defence against invasion. Such thinking is not surprising given the militarism that pervades every aspect of Canadian culture from film and video games to history textbooks. This thinking is completely unrealistic, outdated, and dangerous.

As we’ve explained elsewhere, civilian-based defence and related techniques of active nonviolence are viable ways for nations to defend themselves. They don’t require killing. We urge Canadians to learn more about active nonviolence.

We urge Canada to engage in nonviolent resistance focused on justice and peace. Rather than just pointing fingers at the US, we join with the many voices calling the federal and provincial governments to use this as a moment to reflect on Canadian policies.

In this challenging moment, Canada can reassess, change course, and build more equitable, environmentally sustainable, and resilient economies that don’t leave people behind. Canada can use the urgent need to reduce dependency on US trade as an opportunity to prioritize investments in human rights and social justice.

Keep reading this statement and our four proposed actions: https://QuakerService.ca/TradeWar

You’re not just you: how others shape your true self

You might be used to thinking about yourself as someone you control, or as someone whose unique way of being human you have to discover. Our newest post for Psychology Today explores these two ways of understanding ourselves. It then offers a third way that may be more counter-intuitive. It shares findings about how we’re deeply interconnected with each other and don’t think, believe, or act in isolation. At a time of growing societal division and distrust, rediscovering our mutuality matters! https://QuakerService.ca/TrueSelf