Climate Change a Crisis of Conscience for All Canadians

TORONTO, January 17, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - Mardi Tindal, the Moderator of Canada's largest Protestant denomination, The United Church of Canada, today issued an open letter to Canadians calling on them to consider climate change a crisis of conscience.

In the letter Tindal urges Canadians "to choose hope and action over despair and paralysis" in addressing what she calls "one of the most urgent moral challenges in human history."

"I believe this is a unique time in humanity's fretful reign on Earth, a rare moment that will have historic significance," writes Tindal in the letter that was written after she returned from the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this past December.

She returned to Canada bitterly disappointed with the outcome of the negotiations.

"Our moment of opportunity came and then went, and here we are now, the fate of civilization and of millions of the planet's life forms hanging by the frayed thread of inaction," she writes in the letter titled "Where Is the Hope after Copenhagen?"

Tindal believes this is a transformative moment in the planet's history and that "the world will be shaped by how we and our communities respond in the months to come."

The complete text of Tindal's letter is posted on The United Church of Canada's website (www.united-church.ca)

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax

Iguana Showers and Frozen Sea Turtle Rescue in Frigid Florida

A cold stunned endangered green turtle is kept warm at SeaWorld Orlando. Photo by Jason Collier courtesy of PRNewsFoto/SeaWorld

from TreeHugger.com
by Roberta Cruger, Los Angeles

The severe weather hitting the South has sent a cold snap to the Sunshine State, leaving iguanas paralyzed and falling out of trees. The prolonged freezing temps, down into the 20s, are causing these non-native reptiles to shut down, bringing their blood flow to a standstill which can kill them.

Meanwhile farmers have scrambled to save strawberry fields and heat orange groves as... Read the full story on TreeHugger

"If living conditions don't stop improving in this country, we're going to run out of humble beginnings for our great men." - Russell P. Askue

Al Gore’s inconvenient goof

from TBR.cc
Investigate magazine's breaking news forum

God has a sense of humour. That much as emerged as Copenhagen shivers during the global warming conference, and Al Gore gets caught making it up, yet again, but this time on the biggest stage of his not so illustrious career.

Gore told the Copenhagen summit that Arctic sea ice will be gone in five to seven years, only to be dumped on when reporters bothered to fact-check.

UPDATE: Hold the front page! Climate Depot backing Gore on this one - seems the climatologist who denied saying it did indeed say it. Read more here...

My Life, My City: Ethics of Urban Living Speakers Series

TORONTO, December 29, 2009 /Canada NewsWire/ - On January 6th at 7pm, Lawrence Park Community Church will kick off a speaker series titled My Life, My City: Ethics of Urban Living with a riveting panel of prominent Torontonians tackling tough questions about "A Vision for Toronto: How Can Toronto become a Great City over the next 10-20 years?"

The debate will feature the following panelists: Paul Beeston, President and C.E.O., Toronto Blue Jays; Sara Diamond, President, Ontario College of Art and Design; Royson James, Columnist, The Toronto Star; and former MPP Frances Lankin, President and C.E.O., United Way.

"The discussion will focus on Toronto's potential to be a great cosmopolitan city," notes Ken Gallinger, Minister of Lawrence Park Community Church. Rev. Gallinger is the Toronto Star's Ethics Columnist and is moderating the discussion. "Each guest is a city leader with a specialized context to share."

After the Panel discussion on January 6th, the My Life, My City series continues each Sunday in January at 10:30am with a guest speaker discussing what it means to live ethically in an urban context. On Sunday, January 10th, Police Chief Bill Blair will discuss "Crime & Community" followed by MPP Cheri DiNovo addressing "Making Neighbourhoods Work" on Sunday January 17th. MP Rob Oliphant will discuss the integration and polarization of "New and Old Canadians" on January 24th and on January 31st John Tory will wrap up the series by considering what it means to be a "Corporate Urban Citizen."

The series continues with Toronto-themed documentaries running each Wednesday evening in January starting at 7pm.

With the municipal elections looming, Jaye Robinson, Chair of the Social Justice Committee, knows people in our city want to discuss what works and what needs to be changed.

"Toronto is a city of contradictions," says Robinson. "Forums like My Life, My City raise awareness of what our collective values really are and what we deem to be priorities in Toronto."

Lawrence Park Community Church is a congregation of the United Church of Canada. It is located at 2180 Bayview Avenue at Dawlish Road, just south of Lawrence Avenue in Toronto, Canada.

KAIROS Responds to Accusations of Anti-Semitism and Renews Call for CIDA Funding to Be Restored

TORONTO, December 18, 2009 /Canada NewsWire/ - KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives denies allegations by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney that it is anti-Semitic and decries the apparent politicization of aid that led to its funding being cut by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). It wants CIDA funding restored.

"Minister Kenney's charge against KAIROS is false," KAIROS says in a statement released today. "Two points need to be made: Criticism of Israel does not constitute anti-Semitism; and CIDA was developed to fund international aid and not to serve political agendas".

KAIROS' response goes on to say, "Minister Kenney's statement, in a highly charged environment, raises very disturbing questions about the integrity of Canadian development aid decisions. If aid decisions are based on political rumour rather than on due diligence, development criteria and CIDA's own evaluation process then this is a matter of grave concern for the entire international development sector -- and for the Canadian people who pay for this aid".

On November 30th, a senior CIDA official informed KAIROS that the agency would no longer fund KAIROS' human rights program, despite a 35-year collaboration. The only reason given was that KAIROS no longer "fit" CIDA program priorities. However, there has been widespread speculation that the real reason for the CIDA funding cut was to sanction KAIROS for its views on the environment and other controversial issues.

KAIROS, a church-based non-governmental organization that represents seven of Canada's largest church denominations, works on a range of social justice issues, including human rights in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East. Since 1973, KAIROS and the church coalitions from which it was formed had received funding from CIDA to support partners in countries with the world's most egregious human rights violations including Sudan, the Philippines, Colombia, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

KAIROS work is highly regarded in Canada and around the world. It supports 21 ecumenical and civil society groups overseas. Hundreds of thousands of people benefit from and depend on KAIROS' support.

Since news of the cuts broke a week ago, the government has been under increasing pressure to reverse its decision. Canadians from across the country, churches and non-governmental groups have written letters of support for KAIROS and called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister Bev Oda to reverse the decision. Questions have been raised in the House of Commons and all opposition parties and the Green Party have also issued media releases calling on the government to reverse its decision.

The full text of the KAIROS statement is available at: www.kairoscanada.org

Louis Braille: His Legacy and Influence

For thousands of years, the ability of blind people to participate fully in social, political, and cultural life was limited by the lack of access to written or printed forms of information. Although the work of many others contributed to his accomplishment, Louis Braille’s invention of a tactile six-dot reading and writing system revolutionized the way blind people perceived and contributed to the world. This compelling digital exhibit has been created by the Library of Congress.

Read more about Louis Braille: His Legacy and Influence...

The Guelph Lecture - On Being Canadian 2009 John Ralston Saul

Each year The Guelph Lecture - On Being Canadian inspires a community conversation on what it means to be Canadian and what role our country could and should play in a changing world. Through the arts, and film in particular, we share experiences with people all over the world, making possible the exploration of various perspectives, which revitalize us and awaken us to possibilities in our lives.

This year's keynote speaker is John Ralston Saul, whose most recent book -- A Fair Country: Telling Truths about Canada -- is certain to inspire debate about what it means to be Canadian.

Wednesday, 9 December 2009 at the River Run Centre, Guelph Ontario at 7pm

Tickets are on sale now. Don't miss out; last year's event sold out well in advance.

Regular admission: $25. Students are welcome at $15. (eyeGo tickets are available.)

Tickets are available on line at www.riverrun.ca or by calling 519-763-3000 or toll free 1-877-520-2408.

The Guelph Lecture - On Being Canadian is an offering of the Eramosa Institute, a not-for-profit, Charitable Organization (86498 9207 RR0001) that exists to promote and foster public dialogue on, and greater understanding of, ideas and issues of concern to Canadians.