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On motion of Buckley/Wiegand it was proposed that having heard and considered Petition 68 and the Sessional Committee report of the 34th General Council take the following action: Recognize the moral right and the responsibility of United Church Congregations to provide sanctuary to legitimate refugee claimants who have been denies refugee status by a process which the church recognizes as being inadequate; and to direct 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 agrees to 1 request the Moderator or the General Secretary to express our opposition to the arms trade to the Government of Canada through the offices of the Prime Minister of Canada, the Secretary of State for External Affairs, the Minister of Defence; and
The 34th General Council strongly protests the establishment of arms trade exhibition facilities anywhere in Canada; and encourages United Church members to express opposition to arms trade exhibitions throughout Canada.
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 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 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 requests the Division of Mission in Canada and the Division of World Outreach a) to gather existing resources and up-to-date information on the UCC’s position on the Middle East; 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.
The 34th General Council agrees to a) declare its revulsion at the acts of war and atrocities carried out in the former Yugoslavia and particularly at the attacks on minorities in policies aimed at “ethnic cleansing”; b) through the Moderator, communicate with the faith communities (Orthodox, Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Protestant) of the former Yugoslavia and their counterparts in Canada to express our grief and our support for their efforts to relieve human suffering, to withhold moral legitimacy from war-making, and to bring about reconciliation; c) through the Moderator, express to the World Council of Churches and to the Conference of European Churches our willingness to cooperate in efforts for humanitarian relief, protection of refugees, reconciliation, and rebuilding of “civil society” after the war is over;
