Keeping Up with Friends
Why abolish prisons?
A short and simple infographic made by CFSC highlights why Friends nationally have, since 1981, supported replacing prisons with more healing and life-affirming responses to crime: https://QuakerService.ca/AbolishPrisons
Popular event videos now available
Last year was our 90th anniversary. To celebrate, we hosted an event each month that gave a particular Friend the chance to share the story of how they came to be involved with Quaker service work. The series included current and past CFSC members, staff, and donors. Videos of these sessions are now online: https://QuakerService.ca/GetToKnowThee
Indigenous rights research
CFSC is part of a project at the University of British Columbia looking at decolonizing settler states and implementation of Indigenous peoples’ human rights. This project is partnered with academics and Indigenous peoples in Canada, New Zealand, and Finland. The grant received from the government of Canada for this work is part of the newly launched Global Indigenous Rights Research Network, where CFSC’s Jennifer Preston serves as co-director.
Reform criminal records system
We joined over 60 groups in urging the federal government to reform Canada’s outdated criminal records system. We want criminal records to be automatically sealed once someone successfully completes their sentence and lives in the community without further criminal convictions. This change will promote reintegration and workforce participation, and improve community safety:
https://QuakerService.ca/CriminalRecords
Keeping up the pressure about Saudi arms sales
A wide range of labour, peace, human rights, and faith groups from across Canada continue to pressure the government about its arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The sales are in violation of Canadian and international law and have resulted in Canada being singled out as one of the countries fueling the brutal war on Yemen: https://quakerservice.ca/SaudiArmsSalesDec2021
Addressing corporate abuses
CFSC has joined two campaigns to address abuses committed by Canadian corporations. One campaign has drafted model legislation that it calls on Canada to adopt. The law would require Canadian companies to undertake human rights and environmental due diligence throughout their global operations and supply chains: https://quakerservice.ca/HumanRightsDueDiligence
The other campaign calls for Canada to support the creation of a new international crime: ecocide—mass damage and destruction of ecosystems: https://QuakerService.ca/Ecocide
Military carbon emissions
In the run-up to the COP climate conference in Glasgow, CFSC joined over 200 organizations from around the world in raising the urgent issues of military carbon emissions. The campaign made strides in getting people talking about this issue, but far more action is needed: https://QuakerService.ca/MilitaryEmissions
International Day of Peace
Again in 2021 CFSC joined hunderds of groups in sending a letter to all delegations at the United Nations urging, among other things, that they refocus on peace, justice and inclusion: https://QuakerService.ca/PeaceDay2021PDF