TO: Members of Parliament
FROM: The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network
DATE: October 5, 2023
RE: Canadians want Peace Now! Stop the Weapons and War in Ukraine. It’s Time for Negotiations
Dear Member of Parliament,
We, Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network (CWPJN) are calling on you to stop sending weapons to Ukraine and to start supporting negotiations to end this tragic war. Two weeks ago, the federal government announced another $650 million for military equipment to the Ukrainian government to prolong the war, but not $1 for peace and diplomacy to end it. Since February 2022, Canada has sent over $1.5 billion worth of weapons and military equipment and $8 billion in state aid to Ukraine for a war where thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and civilians have been killed. According to the latest figures from the United Nations Office of Human Rights, there have been 27,449 civilian casualties recorded in the country: 9,701 killed and 17,748 injured.
This war in Ukraine is not only killing people, but it is killing hope for the climate and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Canada and other NATO countries have dramatically increased military spending to $1.2 trillion/year. Canada’s military spending has increased to $39 billion/year according to the latest NATO Defence Expenditure report. We are calling on you to reduce military spending and re-allocate it for social needs like housing and health care and climate action.
There is broad support for peace across the country and around the world. Peace rallies are being held in 12 cities in Canada and in over 20 countries for the Global Mobilization to Stop the War in Ukraine from September 30-October 8 called by the International Peace Bureau. As well, at the United Nations General Assembly’s open debate in September, the leaders of many countries, such as Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, Colombia and South Africa, called for peace, an end to the war in Ukraine and a reduction of military spending.
The CWPJN is an umbrella organization of over forty peace and social justice groups across Canada. Please see our statement for the week of action to end the war and more information about our network here: https://peaceandjusticenetwork.ca/ To speak to someone directly, please contact:
· Glenn Michalchuk, Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Ph: 204-479-7026, Email: glennmichalchuk@gmail.com
· Tamara Lorincz, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Ph: 226 505-9469, Email: tlorincz@dal.ca
REFERENCES:
Report on civilian casualties in Ukraine, UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), update 24 September 2023: https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2023/09/ukraine-civilian-casualty-update-24-september-2023
Read: “Beyond the Neocon Debacle to Peace in Ukraine” by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs: https://www.jeffsachs.org/newspaper-articles/towards-peace-in-ukraine
See the research and investigation into the Maidan protests and killings and Odessa massacre and the lack of investigations and justice by,: https://uottawa.academia.edu/IvanKatchanovski Read Dr. Ivan Katchanovski’s, Ukrainian-Canada Professor of Political Science at the University of Ottawa, article “The hidden origin of the escalating Ukraine-Russia conflict”: https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/the-hidden-origin-of-the-escalating-ukraine-russia-conflict
Watch: Dr. John Mearsheimer “Who Really Started Ukraine War?” (25 minutes)
Read and see the important research and writings on the conflict in Ukraine by retired Swiss Colonel Jacques Baud: https://maxmilo.com/en/collections/jacques-baud
JUST PEAce COMMITTEE 