Advocacy

How about a little ethics with our politics?

Many governments have an ethics commissioner. Generally, this person’s job is to ensure that public officials avoid conflicts of interest (that they don’t use their position for personal or financial gain).

What an ethics commissioner does not do is give an ethical evaluation of the impacts of budgets, policies, and government choices. That’s up to the public. It’s up to us. But to do so, we need to pay attention to what governments are doing. We need to ask: What patterns and priorities are emerging in their policy choices?

Consider how some of the lowest-income people in Ontario are being impacted by government policies:

  • First, at a time when many companies aren’t hiring due to trade disruptions, and costs are soaring, Ontario Works’ basic rate (social assistance) is stuck at $733 monthly. That amount hasn’t changed since 2018. In those intervening years, inflation has eroded the purchasing power of $733 by more than 20 %. What does one have to do to survive on so little money? And how could one possibly get job-ready when one is just trying to survive?

  • Second, in June, provincial funding for Ontario’s last eight publicly funded supervised consumption sites will end. Will these closures lead to more overdose deaths and increased health-care costs?

  • Third, given the provincial government’s closure of these supervised consumption sites, and the earlier push to get people out of encampments, one would imagine that the government would be “all in” when it comes to supporting programs such as London’s House of Hope.  

London, Ontario’s House of Hope set to close after province denies funding.

House of Hope has 48 units and has been supporting people with physical and mental health issues, including addiction. In less than three years of operation it has proven to be effective in providing the wrap-around services that help people stay off the street. It has also reduced pressure on shelters, hospitals, and emergency services. And yet, so far, House of Hope has been unsuccessful in securing $1.37 million in ongoing provincial funding. Without this funding, House of Hope will be forced to close when its funding runs out in November. And how many similar stories are occurring in communities across Ontario? In your community?

The political conversation has been predictable. The city council blames the province for cutting funding. The provincial government lists all the money it spends on such services province-wide, and insists the city needs to better allocate its money. Who does one believe? And is there any point to the “blaming game” other than skirting responsibility?

Might the people of Ontario make a difference by taking an ethical stance?  

It’s just not right for people who live on the lowest incomes to continually be the target of insufficient funding and loss of services, be it OW, safe consumption sites, or wrap-around services. When we have programs that work, we need to fund them.

-Sister Sue Wilson, CSJ | Executive Director, Office for Systemic Justice

Image: Lady Justice statue, Philippe Oursel@ourselp/Unsplash

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65 Years of Amnesty International: A Movement That Changed the World

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On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy shared his bold vision of landing a man on the moon. Eight years later, Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface. This astonishing achievement, immortalized by his words, “This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” prove what vision and sustained commitment can accomplish.

May 28 is Amnesty International's 65th anniversary. Like the moon mission, our movement has reached goals that once seemed unattainable. The Sisters of St. Joseph— through letters written, petitions signed, and generous financial support- have helped make this possible. (Pictured below, Sisters over the years participating in various Amnesty initiatives).

Here are some results of that unwavering commitment over the decades:

  • 1962 — Amnesty sent a lawyer to observe Nelson Mandela's trial in South Africa. Mandela later wrote that his presence "was a source of tremendous inspiration and encouragement to us."

  • 1970s — Amnesty secured access to Chile under Pinochet to investigate human rights violations and published a list of 2,665 people who had "disappeared" in Argentina, helping families demand accountability. For this work, Amnesty was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.

  • 1977 — When Amnesty began campaigning against the death penalty, only 16 countries had abolished it. Today, more than half the world — 113 countries — has done so.

  • 1990s — Amnesty drew global attention to the plight of 300,000 child soldiers, helping launch the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

  • 2002 — Decades of pressure from Amnesty supporters helped bring about the creation of the International Criminal Court to prosecute those responsible for crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes.

  • 2014 — The global Arms Trade Treaty came into force after sustained advocacy by Amnesty and others— a landmark step toward stemming the flow of weapons that fuel conflict and human rights abuses worldwide.

  • 2016 — Albert Woodfox was released from a Louisiana prison after a U.S. record-breaking 43 years and 10 months in solitary confinement. "I can't emphasize enough how important getting letters from people around the world is," he said. "It gave me strength."

  • 2018 — Teodora del Carmen Vasquez was freed in El Salvador after serving a decade of a 30-year sentence for suffering a stillbirth. Amnesty supporters had campaigned for her since 2015.

  • 2021 — Amnesty's Security Lab exposed the widespread use of Pegasus spyware against journalists, activists, and human rights defenders globally, triggering government inquiries and bans in multiple countries.

  • 2025 — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity. In their written charges against Duterte, ICC prosecutors cited Amnesty International reports more than 60 times.

©International Criminal Court/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

Over the past 65 years, tens of millions of letters have reached people in cells, in exile, and in fear — reminding them they are not forgotten or alone. You are among those who wrote these letters.

No one knows what the next 65 years will bring. But the last 65 have shown that as long as people keep standing up for rights and accountability, the world will keep moving — however haltingly — toward justice for everyone.

-Amnesty International Canada

Protecting the Wellbeing of Water: A Letter to Premier Ford

Ontario's water sources are under stress from climate change, land development, and population growth. That's why water permits (an important tool in assessing, monitoring and managing water sources) are important. They can help Ontario to pursue economic development within a wider vision that protects the wellbeing of water.

We invite you to read the attached letter from our Federation Office for Systemic Justice to Premier Ford expressing concerns about water and reminding the government that “it is more important than ever to have ongoing and careful assessments of the frequency and quantity of water-taking permits [which] requires strong structures for tracking, evaluating, and managing cumulative withdrawals across water sources…”.

Read the letter here.

-Sister Sue Wilson, csj

Image: David Becker @beckerworks/Unsplash

World Day for Social Justice

On this World Day of Social Justice, I've decided to highlight a troubling practice at the heart of capitalism, that is, the practice of socializing losses and privatizing gains. While it is certainly not the only inequitable pattern in capitalism, this flow of money from the government (public) to private corporations and wealthy citizens underlies many social injustices. For instance, it undermines the government's capacity to create strong social protections such as robust systems for health care, pharma care, dental care, education, child care, senior care, and work inspections.  

Here's the thing. Privatizing profits and socializing losses means that a company's profit earnings can go to shareholders while passing part (or all) of the losses to society (to taxpayers).  It's a practice that often occurs through government interventions such as bailouts, subsidies or cost-sharing arrangements for infrastructure projects where the public takes on the risks of any losses. Some examples include subsidies to the oil sector, the government paying for environmental clean-ups, and financial supports to banks during the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis.

Let's take a quick look at the Financial Crisis. Although Canadian banks remained relatively stable, the federal government still provided billions of dollars in support by purchasing mortgage assets from banks. This action seemed to be based on the assumption that allowing banks to collapse would cause widespread economic downturns and have much worse impacts on the working population than the rescues. However, the fact that banks continued to pay dividends to shareholders and award executive bonuses during this time, seems to suggest that this was about more than simply lessening any impact on the working population.

Maybe it's time we all do a little more thinking about how our economy works. Then we might be motivated to act for change.

-Sister Sue Wilson, CSJ

Image: Greg Rosenke @greg_rosenke/Unsplash

Write for Rights 2025

On November 28th we once again hosted our annual Write for Rights event in London! Beginning in Poland as a letter writing marathon to advocate for human rights in 2001, Amnesty International’s event has since grown into a global movement. These letters are sent to government officials across the globe to call for the end of unjust imprisonments, violence, and other human rights violations. Having been long supporters of Amnesty International, the Sisters of St. Joseph have been hosting their own Write for Rights events in London for over a decade.

Image: Marc Ignacio/Unsplash

This year we lost three vocal supporters of Amnesty International. Our dear Sisters Jean Moylan, Olga Barilko, and Nancy Wales are all remembered for their kindness and compassion to those facing hardship in all walks of life. While it was difficult to focus on the wider world with our own hearts still heavy with grief, it is in Sister Jean, Sister Olga, and Sister Nancy’s memory that we continue to advocate for human rights for all.

In 2025, we focused on three cases highlighted by Amnesty International: the Guerreras por la Amazonía climate defenders in Ecuador, Damisoa and the displaced people of Madagascar, and Sonia Dahmani, a lawyer and media commentator in  Tunisia charged for exercising her right to freedom of expression. To champion these three individuals, the Sisters and staff in London gathered 170 petition signatures and wrote 187 letters of advocacy and support.

Words have the power to change!

 -Sarah Morrison & Rhiannon Allen-Roberts | CSJ Staff

Pictured below: Sisters Anne, Joyce, Elaine, Teresa and Mary Raphael, and Susan -Writing for Rights.