We Call for Peace: Statements on Peace by Canadian Churches and Religious Organizations

Tasneem Jamal

of war and those designated as enemies;

7. to encourage members and congregations, especially those near military installations and arms factories, to provide spiritual and legal assistance to those who seek to change their activities related to war. Mennonite Central Committee Canada (MCCC) Statement on the Persian Gulf War January 19, 1991

Introduction

We, the members of Mennonite Central Committee Canada (MCCC), assembled in our annual meeting in Clearbrook, British Columbia, are adopting this statement with regard to the current Persian Gulf war, in order to express some of our concerns, to identify certain actions we plan to take, and to communicate with our supporting churches.

We are profoundly saddened by the outbreak of this war. For people in the…

MPs Call for Nuclear Disarmament: Parliamentary committee completes two-year study

Tasneem Jamal

the long run in the Committee’s support for the elimination of nuclear weapons). While the Committee did not explicitly support no-first-use, it did make a more general call for changes in NATO’s nuclear policies and it explicitly supported the de-alerting of nuclear forces and co-operation with like-minded states.

What now

The government has 150 days to respond to the committee’s report, meaning it must table its response in the House of Commons by early May. None of the committee’s recommendations is binding on the government, but it is likely that Foreign Affairs Minister Axworthy will support many of them. The real question is whether he, and the committee, will be able to convince the Prime Minister and the rest of…

MPs Call for Nuclear Disarmament

Tasneem Jamal

Author Bill Robinson

The Ploughshares Monitor March 1999 Volume 20 Issue 1

In December the House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee released a report calling for significant changes in Canada’s nuclear weapons policies. The Committee’s recommendations address both the need to begin a real nuclear abolition process and the need to take immediate steps to reduce the danger of nuclear disaster.

The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade released its long-awaited report on Canada’s nuclear non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament policy (Canada and the Nuclear Challenge: Reducing the Political Value of Nuclear Weapons for the Twenty-first Century) on 10 December 1998. The culmination of a two-year study, the Committee’s 126-page report contains 15 important recommendations for improving

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Small Arms after the United Nations Conference: The Way Forward

Tasneem Jamal

…ceremony. The lesson from these cases, he suggested, was that the community was an essential element in any effective response.

 

Session 4 – Central America case study

Viviana Arroyo Coordinator, Central American Dialogue project, Demilitarization, Disarmament and Human Security Program The Arias Foundation, Costa Rica

In presenting the second case-study, on the situation in Central America, Viviana Arroyo said surveys showed that citizen security (or insecurity) ranked second only to the cost of living in a poll taken on perceived problems in this region. The problem embraced crime in the street and at home, kidnapping, car thefts, bank robberies – and anxiety about the role of police forces. Most people in Central America thought their governments had…

Human Security and Canadian Defence Policy

Tasneem Jamal

Working Paper 99-1

On May 27, 1999 Project Ploughshares appeared before the House of Common’s Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs as part of the Committee’s review of defence contracting and procurement. This paper consists of the brief submitted to the Committee and the proceedings that followed.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface Introduction Human Security and Canadian Defence Policy Canadian Security Spending Trends Canada/US Defence Trade Canadian Military Procurement and Export Dependence Controlling Dual-Purpose Equipment Endnotes References Figures Excerpt from Standing Committee on National Defence & Veterans Affairs (Evidence, May 27, 1999) Preface

In the following brief and in testimony before the committee, Project Ploughshares argues that the review of Canadian military procurement policy and practice by the House

…

Reversing the Tide: Report on the small arms action forum

Tasneem Jamal Conventional Weapons

issue was single focus – small arms do not offer the same narrow agenda.)

FORUM PARTICIPANTS

Carol Brunt, CUSO, Ottawa adamsbrunt@sympatico.ca Paula Butler, United Church of Canada, Etobicoke pbutler@uccan.org Peter Chapman, Canadian Friends Service Committee, Toronto cfsc@web.net Chris Derkson Hiebert, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Ottawa chrisdh@web.net Ken Epps, Project Ploughshares, Waterloo kepps@ploughshares.ca Douglas Fraser, Canadian Council for International Peace and Security, Ottawa ccips@web.net Mark Gaillard, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa Mark.Gaillard@dfait-maeci.gc.ca Bonnie Greene, United Church of Canada, Etobicoke bgreene@uccan.org Shaukat Hassan, International Development Research Centre, Ottawa shassan@idrc.ca Joy Kennedy, Anglican Church of Canada, Toronto jkennedy@national.anglican.ca Michael Kerr, Green Lotus International, Toronto mkerr@web.net Jennifer Loten, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa Jennifer.Loten@dfait-maeci.gc.ca Claire Pike, Fafo Institute,…

States Parties NPT Reports: United States of America

Tasneem Jamal

Third Session of the Preparatory Committee 2010 Review Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, May 8, 2009.

Statement by Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation Department of State, “General Debate”, Third Session of the Preparatory Committee 2010 Review Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, May 5, 2009.

Statement by Ambassador Marguerita Ragsdale, Director, Office of Multilateral Nuclear and Security Affairs Department of State, “Specific Issue – Other provisions of the Treaty, including Article X”, Third Session of the Preparatory Committee 2010 Review Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, May 11, 2009.

…

Just Peacemaking: Canadian Church Perspectives and Contributions

Tasneem Jamal Americas, Defence & Human Security

…College, Peace and Conflict Studies professor, Project Ploughshares board member Sheila Havard, Canadian Friends Service Committee, board member Paul Heidebrecht, Mennonite Central Committee–Ottawa, Director Jean Herzog, Alternatives to Violence Project, National Recorder Michael Ingham, Anglican Church of Canada, Bishop, Diocese of New Westminster Robert Kelly, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Professor of Systematic Theology Joy Kennedy, United Church of Canada, Poverty, Wealth & Ecology Program Coordinator Liz Monteiro, The Waterloo Region Record, reporter Peter Noteboom, Canadian Council of Churches, Associate Secretary for the Commission on Justice and Peace David Pfrimmer, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Principal–Dean John Siebert, Project Ploughshares, Executive Director Glen Stassen, Fuller Theological Seminary, Professor of Christian Ethics Derek Suderman, Conrad Grebel University College, Religious Studies professor Robert Suderman, Mennonite Church…

An Unequivocal Landmark: The 2000 Review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty

Tasneem Jamal

…element of the conference, eclipsing the NAM. The NWS would have to deal with the NAC.

 

8. NWS Negotiates With NAC

8.1 Main Committee I, dealing with the Article VI disarmament issues,* became the centre of attention. This committee was headed by Ambassador Camillo Reyes Rodriguez of Colombia, who had chaired the Third PrepCom and produced a 61-page final paper which, while not going as far as the NAM desired, went well beyond what the Western NWS would accept.

(*It is customary for NPT conferences to break into three main committees. Main Committee II, headed by Adam Kobieracki of Poland dealt principally with safeguards issues. Main Committee III, headed by Amb. Markku Reimaa of Finland dealt with the peaceful…

Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Tasneem Jamal

…Please know that you and your colleagues in the Government of Canada are supported by the prayers and good wishes of Canadians.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. M.L. Bailey Moderator Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) in Canada

The Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Bellous Executive Minister Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec

John Congram Moderator Presbyterian Church in Canada

Archbishop H. Derderian Primate Canadian Diocese of the Armenian Orthodox Church

The Rev. Messale Engeda Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Marvin Frey Executive Director Mennonite Central Committee Canada

Donald V. Kerr Commissioner The Salvation Army

Fr. Marcos Marcos St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church

Jim Moerman Reformed Church in America

Fr. Anthony Nikolic Polish National Catholic Church of Canada

The Most Rev. Michael G. Peers Primate…