Canada

Overview: (for main “response” points scroll to bottom)

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti there are several issues and concerns around short and longer term immigration processes which Canada needs to consider as part of the humanitarian response in that country. There are strong family ties as well as thousands of Haitian nationals who reside and work in Canada on a temporary basis. There are also thousands of Haitian asylum seekers, known as refugee claimants in Canada, either in process or waiting for a final asylum decision. Others of these claimants remain, “in limbo” here, meaning their claims on refugee status basis were not accepted, but due to the volatile human rights and security issues, lack of good governance and rule of law in Haiti over recent years, Canada has not been removing them until those pre-conditions would be met. With Haiti now facing the added burden of having to overcome this disaster it is clear that just rebuilding to its previous precarious state will take time, let alone becoming stable and capable enough to meet the standards above.

In the past few days the Canadian government has refined and clarified its policy with respect to the current immigration situation regarding Haiti.

• 100 adoption cases which were at the “ready to leave for Canada” stage prior to the quake, are now being priorized for departure over the coming days and weeks.
• Haitians in Canada who have refugee claims in process will have their cases reviewed and decision made, in an expedited fashion over the coming months.
• Successful Haitian refugee claimants in Canada will have an expedited process to bring their remaining immediate family members here, under normal Family Class sponsorship provisions.
• Regular Family Class applications which Haitian Canadians now have in the system, as well as new ones now being made, will be reviewed more quickly.

On the negative side, the new measures

• do NOT say that refugee claimants here will be granted relaxed criteria, the normal rules and criteria for refugee claims remain in force;
• do not provide any new avenue for the Private Sponsorship Program in Canada – the avenue church groups such as MCC are contracted for to sponsor refugees from abroad. This avenue remains open only for political refugees out of conflict situations, not displacement due to natural disaster;
• do not expand the definition of “family” under family class reunification. It remains the basic family unit and parents/grandparents of same. Does not include nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles.

The list of those persons now facing serious humanitarian need in Haiti has now grown to large numbers in all the vulnerable categories from the general citizenry to an increased number of unaccompanied minors, people with disabilities, extremely vulnerable elderly, compromised medical situations. It also encompasses those stuck abroad as described above and the torn apart families in general.
 

Possible Canadian responses MCC would support:

Temporarily:

• Relax definitions for family class immigration, starting with applications now queued.
• Allow families to use Canadians as co-sponsors to guarantee financial viability when that cannot be met due to low incomes.   
• Waive fees attached to all family and other humanitarian application processes.
• Consider processing very vulnerable cases in Canada move them here expeditiously, as was done with the Kosovars in 2000.

Longer Term Advocacy issues

• Sustainable development approaches are key to ensure healthy futures for all.
• Through prior point, increase efforts to reduce reliance on orphanages and adoptions as primary way to address needs of unaccompanied children.
• Address root causes of forced migration, the push/pull factors. Such as agriculture practices, ecological degradation
• Theological constructs and disaster, i.e. hope, role of Anabaptist history, who determines the “right to mobility”.

MCC Canada Refugee Program

Jan 26, 2010

In addition to donations of money, MCC is collecting 20,000 relief kits, 10,000 heavy comforters and 10,000 sheets to be sent to Haitian earthquake survivors.

 Relief Kits

•  4 large bars bath soap (leave in wrapping)
• 1 plastic bottle shampoo (380-710ml / 13-24oz; place bottle in a re-sealable plastic bag)
• 4 large bars of laundry soap (Some stores carry Fels Naptha, Sunlight or Zote brands; contact your local MCC warehouse with questions)
• 1 squeeze-tube toothpaste (minimum 130ml / 6oz; leave in box)
• 4 adult-size toothbrushes (leave in packaging)
• 4 new bath towels (medium weight, dark or bright colors)
• 2 wide-tooth combs (6 to 8in / 15 to 20cm)
• 1 fingernail clipper
• 1 box adhesive bandages (minimum 40, assorted)
• 1 package sanitary pads (18-24 thin maxi)

Comforter specifications

• Use new or nearly new material
• Single/twin-size preferred (approx. 152cm x 203 cm / 60in x 80in). Double/full-size accepted (approx. 208cm x 228cm / 82in x 90in)
• Winter weight requested (please use quilt batting or a blanket for filler)
• Knotted with crochet cotton (not more than 10-15cm / 4-8in apart)

Sheet details

• New, double-, queen- or king-size, flat sheets
• 300 thread count or higher
• Cotton
• Light colors

Please deliver to any drop-off location by Feb. 28.

The Canadian government is matching donations made by individual Canadians from January 12 to February 12, 2010.  MCC is eligible for these matching funds which essentially double the value of a donation.

How it works

* An individual donates to MCC’s Haiti earthquake response.
* MCC informs the federal government of the amount received from Canadian individuals and explains in detail how the money will be spent.
* If the proposal is accepted, the government matches the funds dollar for dollar. The funds can be used for immediate, medium and longer-term earthquake relief in Haiti.

This follows procedures from previous disasters in China and Burma in 2008 when MCC received a total of $1.9 million in matching funds.

Donations to help victims of the disaster should be designated Haiti Earthquake and can be made:

* Online
* By calling toll free – 1-888-622-6337 in Canada
* Or by sending a cheque to your nearest MCC office.

How to pack a Relief Kit

Learn more about MCC Relief Kits from MCC Manitoba staff member Tricia Prosser (Winnipeg Free Press)

CIDA: Matching Funds

The Canadian government is matching donations made by individual Canadians from January 12 to February 12, 2010.  MCC is eligible for these matching funds which essentially double the value of a donation.

Haiti: Humanitarian Immigration Issues
In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti there are several issues and concerns around short and longer term immigration processes which Canada needs to consider as part of the humanitarian response in that country.  Read more.

Haiti: MCC is responding (90 second clip)

Download video

MCC Thrift Shops are recycling pioneers

In 1972, the year that MCC Thrift Shops first opened in Altona, Manitoba, MCC announced a significant cutback in material aid requests. Used clothing from North America was not needed in countries where MCC was doing relief and it was less expensive and more appropriate to purchase the goods closer to the scene of the emergency.

Donations of clothing and household items continued to arrive in local depots and the idea of selling the goods locally and forwarding the proceeds to MCC was born. Volunteers in the newly opened thrift shops developed clever ideas for turning unwearable and unusable surplus items into blankets, pot holders, pencil cases, garden gates - the ideas are endless!

Why Shop Thrift?

1. Respect for the Environment:
   Reselling used goods means fewer items in the landfill
2. Respect Your Wallet:
   Prices are a fraction of traditional retail stores
3. Support Our World:
   Profits are used for relief, peace and justice through the work of Mennonite Central Committee

Our Principles of Operation

We commit ourselves to Christian faith in action by:

• Offering a friendly, caring presence in the community
• Volunteering our time and talents
• Receiving and reselling donated items
• Informing the churches and community of the Mennonite Central Committee mission
• Supporting the mission of Mennonite Central Committee by generating income

Find a Thrift Shop Near you.

O Canada: armed & ready leaflet

Condensed and printer-friendly version of the items on this website. Download the PDF

Alternative Service

A project of the Mennonite Heritage Centre of Mennonite Church Canada. Uses historical sources to tell the story of conscientious objectors who did alternative service during World War II. Read more...

Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)

A Canadian network of individuals and which gathers information and conducts research on various international efforts by NGOs, governments and businesses to promote the economic conversion of military industries, bases and other facilities to civilian alternatives. Read more...

Conscience Canada

Advocates for legislation that will enable Canadians to divert the military portion of their income tax to peaceful purposes. Read more...

Peace Ministries Program, MCC Canada

A program of Mennonite Central Committee Canada that provides a wide range of resources on Christian peacemaking. Read more...

The Polaris Institute

A citizen advocacy group addressing issues of social change, including militarism, water privatization, and biotechnology. Read more...

Project Ploughshares

An organization of the Canadian Council of Churches engaged in research and advocacy on peace and disarmament. Also a leading authority on the Canadian arms industry. Read more...

1. Learn about the realities of militarism in Canada. See Resources section. Engage friends, family, and co-workers in dialogue on this topic. Raise this topic in your church context.

2. Find out about military recruitment at your local high school or at places where youth gather. What are young people being told? Encourage people young and old to discuss these issues and think about their responses.

3. Learn about military industry in your community. What is being produced, where is it going, and what is it being used for? Contact the companies involved in military production and let them know your concerns.

4. Learn about conscientious objection and about Canadians who have declared themselves as conscientious objectors. Join MCCC’s Conscientious Objector Registry by making a written statement on your views on war.

5. Write the Prime Minister and your Member of Parliament, urging Canada to advance global security through non-military means such as dialogue and diplomacy, increased foreign aid, just trade relationships, and adherence to international law.

6. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper calling for non-military approaches to the problem of insecurity in Canada and the world.

7. Support the work of Project Ploughshares through prayer, advocacy and donations. Join its efforts to bring about tighter restrictions on Canadian military exports, and to build support for an international arms trade treaty to control gun violence and the illicit arms trade.

8. Plan a form of public witness such as a prayer service or vigil to draw attention to the costs of war.

9. Consider withholding the military portion of your income tax and filing it with Conscience Canada’s peace trust fund. Join Conscience Canada’s efforts to press the government for legal means to designate income taxes for peaceful purposes.

10. Join the War Resisters Support Campaign in providing moral, legal and financial support to American war resisters who are in Canada because of their resistance to U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

11. Examine your personal or family investments to determine whether you are investing in companies involved in military production or training. Consider investing in funds which place screens on military industry.

12. Support initiatives aimed at bringing socially responsible investment screens to the Canadian Pension Plan.

13. Find out about peace groups in your area and get involved!

How do Canadian Christians – especially those in the peace church tradition – respond to the increasing militarism in Canada? What theological insights do we bring to our reflection and discernment? What does scripture say about the pursuit of peace and security?

The prophet Isaiah notes that security is the result of people practicing justice and righteousness. “Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever.” (Isaiah 32:16-18). Security is not to be found through warfare or military might but through right relationships.

The Psalms call on God’s people to trust in God rather than weapons of war. Psalm 33:16-17 reads: “A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.” Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in the Lord and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.” Trusting in military might to provide security is a form of idolatry.

Jesus taught his followers to love their enemies, and to pray for those who were bent on harming him. (Matthew 5:43-48). Jesus practiced this ethic of love as well (1 Peter 2:21-23), even at the point of crucifixion, torture and death. Loving enemies seems incompatible with waging war against them.

Paul wrote that evil is overcome not through vengeance or violence, but is overcome by goodness and kindness. (Romans 12:14-21). He says our response to enemies should be to offer them food, drink, and find ways to meet their needs. In doing so, he echoes the words of the wisdom tradition (Proverbs 25:21-22).

Does the biblical call to love enemies apply only to individual Christians or to governments as well? Some, quoting Romans 13:1-7, would say that God intends nations to suppress evil, using lethal force if necessary. While Romans 13 speaks of an ordering function of government, its focus on punishing the wrongdoer seems to suggest a policing role and judicial processes. This text should not be used as a blanket authorization for war.

Rather, God’s vision for creation is that nations will also love their enemies. As Isaiah suggests, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4, see also Micah 4:3).

"We live in an interdependent world, and part of the task of the church is to 
help us understand that invulnerability is not an option. Our well-being depends
on others, as well as ourselves. We can’t isolate ourselves within an armed 
fortress; instead we have to be active participants in transforming the world 
into a place where interdependence is not regarded as a threat but as the 
fundamental ingredient of community."

- Ernie Regehr

The issues identified above illustrate the ways in which Canada is increasingly choosing military responses to the problem of insecurity in the world. Armed responses such as peacekeeping may reduce violence and prevent further suffering, at least in the short term. At times, armed force may be helpful in providing protection to vulnerable populations as, for instance, in Sudan, Uganda or Lebanon.

At the same time, it is important to recognize that a disturbing paradigm shift may be underway in Canada's defence and security policy. Some signs of such a shift are:

• A preoccupation with responding to terrorist acts rather than understanding and acting on the deeper causes that push people to embrace terrorism or extremism
• A dehumanization of those who are considered the enemy.¹
• Acceptance of the idea that the violence of terrorism must be dealt with by the greater violence of military might
• More use of "national security" and "national interests" language, as opposed to the language of "human security" and "common security" advanced in the past decade.2

                       o Human security assumes that security is more about people
                         than about states. It measures the existence of security in
                         terms of the availability of food and water, access to education
                         and healthcare, clean air, personal safety, freedom of
                         expression, and political inclusion.

                      o Common security calls for policies that advance the security
                         of all countries and all peoples, not one nation’s security at the
                         expense of the security of others.

Canadians should consider what this new paradigm means. How do we understand insecurity and security? What are helpful ways of responding to terrorism? What is an appropriate role for Canada’s military forces? What do we have to say about the “new militarism” in Canada?

"In the final analysis, human security is a child who did not die, a disease 
that did not spread,a job that was not cut, an ethnic tension that did not 
explode in violence, a dissident who was not silenced. Human security is not 
a concern with weapons--it is a concern with human life and dignity."

- UN Human Development Report 1994

¹In July 2005, Canada's chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier, described the Taliban in Afghanistan in the following way, "These are detestable murderers and scumbags, I'll tell you that right up front. They detest our freedoms, they detest our society, they detest our liberties." Quoted in Justin Podur and Sonali Kolhatkar, "Detestable Murderers and Scumbags: Making Sense of Canada's Deployment in Afghanistan," Briarpatch, 5 December 2005, http://briarpatchmagazine.com/news/?p=50.

²In spring 2006, Project Ploughshares intimated that some of the government's policies, including the combat and counter-insurgency effort in Afghanistan, were not in keeping with the human security framework. John Siebert, "Canada Under a New Government," Ploughshares Monitor, Spring 2006 (Vol. 27:1). http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/monitor/monm06b.pdf