This Library contains documents from all recent United Church governance meetings, including General Council and its Executive. It will also soon include “Our Beliefs Explained” official policy documents dating back several decades. If you can't find something you think should be included, contact gcbusiness@united-church.ca.
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That the 42nd General Council (2015): Direct the Executive of the General Council to promote existing resources for congregations and other ministries to understand alternatives to the “first past the post” electoral system in Canada.
The 42nd General Council (2015) direct the General Secretary, General Council to: a) contact the Prime Minister, the party leaders and appropriate ministers calling on them to eliminate solitary confinement; b) contact the Prime Minister, the party leaders and appropriate ministers calling on them to: • Provide better training of staff regarding mental health issues of offenders; • Schedule mental health assessments and development of treatment strategies; • Ensure transfer of inmates prone to injuring themselves to treatment centres; • Ensure that there is adequate oversight of prison conditions. • Work more closely with the John Howard Society, the Elizabeth Fry Society, and the Canadian Mental Health Association in developing better strategies for treatment and training. • Work more closely with the interfaith chaplaincies.
WHEREAS the Nuremberg Tribunal identified a war of aggression as a crime against humanity, calling it “the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole,” and in so doing specifically rejected arguments designed to justify a pre-emptive military attack;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Thirty-sixth General Council to call upon the Government of Canada to implement a National Childcare Program which provides affordable, accessible, and quality childcare.
Whereas the House of Commons did not take into consideration on Bill C 86 by the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Sciences and Technology; and Whereas the Senate Committee’s recommendations reflect the recommendations of ICCR, Amnesty International, the Canadian Bar Association and UNHCR representative to Canada in briefs presented to the Senate Committee and the House of Commons Committee; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 34th General Council a) makes the following statement on the future of Canada: “The 34th General Council of The United Church of Canada prays for and declares its hope for Canada, where, Aboriginal peoples, Quebecois and other francophones, Metis, anglophones, and peoples of many other cultural heritages share this land together in peace and justice, with respect and appreciation for each other’s history, culture, language, and other distinctive gifts- a sign of hope for the global family of nations.
The 34th General Council through the Division of Mission in Canada a) seeks the removal of the new domestic workers regulation introduced by Immigration Canada, and in effect since 20 January 1992; and
The 34th General Council agrees to 1. affirm the Divisions of Mission in Canada and World Outreach for their involvement with the End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT) coalition, and through ECPAT to communicate with Canadian tourism organizations to discourage the development of sex trade tourism originating in Canada; and
The 34th General Council recognizes the moral right and the responsibility of United Church congregations to provide sanctuary to legitimate refugee claimants who have been denied refugee status by a process which the church recognizes as being inadequate; and directs the Division of Mission in Canada to make available guidelines to congregations on the legal and financial implications of attempting to provide sanctuary.
The 34th General Council calls upon the Government of Canada and all provincial and territorial administrations to ensure the enshrinement of a social charter in the Constitution of Canada; that this charter guarantee access to basic social, health care, and economic services regardless of gender, ability, race, age, sexual orientation or place of residency; and with a commitment from the federal government to the maintenance of national standards and federal funding to achieve the goals of such a charter.
