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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THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 31st General Council requests the General Secretary of General Council to request the federal, and where appropriate, the provincial governments to clarify, strengthen and guarantee Indian fishery rights in full consultation with the Indian people; this to include Licensing Principles and Licensing Boards.
WHEREAS the church must be concerned about the long-term production capability of our soil, we add our voice to those who are asking for action on this matter: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 31st General Council requests the General Secretary of General Council to invite the federal, provincial and territorial governments to develop comprehensive soil conservation policies which include financial incentives to farmers to help defray the cost of such conservation practices.
WHEREAS the Agriculture and Food Resources Committee is concerned that many urban people in Canada do not fully understand the problems facing agricultural and fishing families, or the contribution which these families are making to society as a whole
WHEREAS not all ministers serving in rural charges may have the necessary background and knowledge to be of optimum assistance to their parishioners
WHEREAS General Council in 1982, acting on petitions from several conferences, including Hamilton, identified acid rain as a major issue for attention by the church; and The United Church of Canada sponsored a major international consultation on acid rain in January 1984, bringing together representatives of 25 religious bodies from Canada and the United States, and issuing a statement which included specific recommendations for action
WHEREAS the world church has been called to develop Christian, social and political ethics based on the vision of a “just, participatory and sustainable” society as the foundation of a wise stewardship of all the resources with which we have been blessed by God; and WHEREAS the United Church at its 29th General Council adopted policies which apply this vision to energy and environmental questions; and WHEREAS the Division of Mission in Canada has encouraged the church to consider the vision of the kingdom, announced in the ministry of Jesus, and realized in just and right relations among humankind; and WHEREAS the state of the present Canadian and world economy represents a state of moral crisis, in which capital, rather than labour, property rather than people, are asserted as the dominant principle of economic and social life, and inequality and injustice increase rather than get reduced; and
The National Energy Sub—Unit and the church have a wider mandate in approaching energy and environmental concerns. It derives from the unlimited sovereignty of God over creation, and our human vocation of stewardship within that creation.
The 1979 Annual General Meeting of the DWO (Division of World Outreach) moved that a statement on human rights be prepared for presentation to the 28th General Council. The statement is presented for endorsement by the General Council.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United Church of Canada through the 28th General Council call on the government of Canada and/or provincial governments to take the following actions: 1. REPLACE the Canadian Atomic Energy Control Act with legislation reflective of present conditions and attitudes; in particular having provision for public access to information, mandatory public hearings (with funding to enable meaningful public participation in such hearings), as well as having provision for a radical change in status and accountability of the nuclear regulatory body (Atomic Energy Control Board).
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the General Council 1. URGE all levels of the church to give top priority to minimizing consumption of available energy resources; 2. CALL on provincial and federal governments of Canada for policies and funds to support an accelerating program to develop new energy resources which are consistent with a just, participatory and sustainable society; 3. SUPPORT the government’s application of nuclear safeguard policies, and Canada’s role in limiting proliferation of nuclear weapons; 4. ASSIST the conferences and presbyteries to implement programs of dialogue and education on nuclear energy in the context of all energy sources, in order to prepare our church members to participate in evolving decision—making processes for a more just society.
