No Images? Click here Hopes, Proposals and Opportunities for Parliament 43 November 2019 Issue No. 85Quotation of the month
Hopes, Proposals and Opportunities - Parliament 43On October 21st Canadians sent a minority Liberal Government back to Ottawa. Minority governments are often framed as fragile or unstable, with an emphasis on the divisions between parties and/or geographic regions. And, yes, these divisions and differences in approaches are real and we need to address them, but how we address them matters. One approach would be to hunker down, circle the wagons, so to speak, and hold on relentlessly to the respective party lines. But another approach – one we hope to see – is increased cross-party collaboration and uniting behind the need to work together on key policy challenges for Canada and the world. Minority governments are challenging – having everyone at the table requires patience, active listening and compromise. But they also present opportunities for active engagement, both for multiple parties and for Canadians across the country. On November 8th, MCC laid out our priorities in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, sending copies to all opposition leaders represented in Parliament. MCC is advocating for increased support for refugee resettlement, supporting peacebuilding as a way to address root causes of forced migration, responsible and just policies and practices in our trade and business abroad, concrete steps toward reconciliation and Indigenous rights, continued support for restorative justice through programs like CoSA, and more. Our overall hope and proposal to the government and opposition parties is that they use this opportunity to bring about legislation and policy that promotes human dignity for all within Canada, and in our foreign policy – policy that focuses on the love and care for all, for the “other,” for the neighbour. Read the full letter here. Imagining PeaceNovember 9, 2019 marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event that, for many, symbolizes the end of the Cold War. In the early 1990s, the world encountered a period of hope, envisioning a turning point in history, where finally the international community was hopeful to explore cooperation and creating a fairer and more just world. A new and peaceful era was thought to have begun. Yet, 30 years later, do we in fact live in a more peaceful world? The answer is of course not a simple one. A look at statistics shows that the first fifteen years of this century were comparatively more peaceful than other periods and the number of wars today is lower than 10 years ago. However, other key statistics paint a very different picture. In 2000, there were 21.87 million people forcibly displaced and in 18 years this number has grown to 70.8 million, seeing an unprecedented rise in the number of internally displaced people from 6 million to 41.3 million in the same time frame. UNICEF reports that last year an estimated 29 million babies, approximately one in five babies world-wide, were born into conflict. As the above statistics show, our world is not a more peaceful place for many people. Peacebuilding initiatives are just as needed today, as they were 30 years ago, if not more. MCC consistently witnesses inspirational innovation and creativity in working with our partners world-wide. We find that it is grassroots, local level community building and activism that give us hope and a glimpse at the real possibilities of a more peaceful world. Read a recent reflection on this topic here or visit our website to find out how you can get involved in peacebuilding in your community and around the world.
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