This Library contains documents from all recent United Church governance meetings, including General Council and its Executive. It also includes “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 34th General Council 1. Call upon the Government of Canada to use its influence in and with the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, to support alternatives and proposals from developing countries which could so alter structural adjustment programs that priority would be given to responding to human needs rather than debt repayment; 2. Encourage congregations and individual United Church members to make similar representations to their elected political representatives.
The 34th General Council resolves to: 1. endorse the current Division of Mission in Canada work in the study and possible creation of community-based “land trusts” to support family farming; 2. urge conferences to support the study and possible creation of land trusts, as appropriate.
The 34th General Council agrees to 1 reaffirm the Refugee Policy of the 32nd General council, providing guidelines for work with refugees, and commend the Division of Mission in Canada for the work presently being done to implement it; and 2 ask the Government of Canada to change proposed amendments to the Immigration Act, introduced in Bill C-86 currently before the House of Commons to reflect the following principles: Refugees, Asylum, Justice
The 34th General Council agrees to adopt the following statement on environment and development. Keywords: Ecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Consumerism, environmentalism, greenhouse gases, greenhouse effect, global warming
That the 34th General Council write to the Secretary of State for External Affairs, expressing its concern that Overseas Development Aid to the Third World has been reduced at this time of even greater need.
The 34th General Council of The United Church of Canada a) recognizes the world-wide significance of the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED), which met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1-12 June 1992; and b) urges presbyteries and congregations of The United Church of Canada to raise and maintain awareness of UNCED agreements (The Rio Declaration, The Climate Change Convention, The Biodiversity Convention) for environmental protection and development;
the country is entering into a new phase of negotiations to secure a trade agreement with the United States and Mexico Keywords: Trade, Trade Agreement, Free Trade, Economic Justice
The 33rd General Council, through the appropriate division or body, encourages dialogue with other denominations in Canada, the United States and other world communities about the mutual concerns of primary food producers.
Whereas our God creator call is the responsibility and privilege of stewardship of the land, and Whereas it is the right of those most directly affected to have free participation in decisions that affect their lives and Whereas there has been a steady and intentional erosion of numbers of small family farms THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 33rd General Council of The United Church of Canada adopt the following statement:
WHEREAS corporate concentration and control in the market place creates disempowerment for government and food producers and, WHEREAS this also creates economic hardship for primary food producers and, WHEREAS government assistance to multi-national corporations is not in the best interests of either primary food producers or consumers. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 33rd General Council urge the federal and provincial Governments to alter their present economic assistance to multinational corporations involved in food production, processing and distribution in order to more justly meet the needs of primary food producers.
