pdf available

Montreal

The branch hosted their annual post-holiday luncheon on Sunday, February 10th at the Museum of Fine Arts. Professor Rene Provost spoke on the topic “What should we think of the United Nations Human Rights Council in the wake of the US withdrawal and the election of states like Eritrea and the Philippines?”

Branch member Scott Cooper led a 10-week discussion group on “The Parliament of Man” about the United Nations and World Politics as part of the McGill University Community Lifelong Learning program.

The branch’s Coffee and Discussion forum is held on the first Tuesday of the month. Recent topics have included the situation in Venezuela, the Norway Heritage fund, the worldwide depletion of sand as it used for concrete, the World Bank, basic guaranteed income, and what Canada can do to help Mali.

Meanwhile, the Marie-Berthe Dion Issues Action Group wrote letters to stop weapon sales to Saudi Arabia, to support the Carbon Tax, to ask that food aid to Yemen be continued, and to reduce plastic pollution.

Christine Jacobs continues to publish the branch’s Buzz newsletter.

The branch’s annual general meeting was held Thursday May 23rd. Claire Adamson continues as President.

Toronto

The branch continues to meet monthly and operates a mailing list to keep members up to date. Details are available on the branch’s web page or their Facebook page.

In January the meeting topic discussed the Abacus survey on nationalism and globalism in Canada. Two recent Toronto Branch meetings have been dedicated to discussing peacekeeping, including WFMC President Walter Dorn’s recent paper on cyber peacekeeping. In April, a number of branch members attended a ceremony where Hon. Douglas Roche received the 2019 Peace Prize awarded by the International Peace Bureau. In his remarks, Roche, 90, said “Much of my public career, which started nearly a

half-century ago, has been marked by dissent, and I’m not stopping my protest now. I dissent from the anti-humanitarian policies of war for peace. I dissent from the perpetuation of poverty through the greed of the rich. I dissent from the despoliation of the planet by short-sighted industrialism. Most of all, I dissent from the fabric of lies spun by the proponents of nuclear weapons who would have us believe that these heinous instruments of mass murder makes us safer.”

Victoria

The branch meets occasionally for lectures and discussion at St John the Divine Anglican Church, Victoria. A meeting July 9 set plans for the Fall 2019 schedule of meetings.

Contact Bill Pearce or Caspar Davis for information regarding future meetings.

Vancouver

The Vancouver branch continues to meet occasionally.