Our Society’s Soul

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” 

 - Nelson Mandela 

We find ourselves feeling a sense of disgust as we repeatedly view images of children impounded under deplorable conditions in US detention centres. We might even silently rage, “Children deserve much better”.

Let us not be too quick to our wag our fingers at our southern neighbours. A recent study, “Towards Justice: Tackling Indigenous Child Poverty in Canada” released jointly by the Assembly of First Nations and Upstream, a non-partisan thinktank, paints the lamentable circumstances faced by First Nations children in Canada.

“Child rates are deplorably high for a country as rich as Canada”, critiques the report’s co-author, David MacDonald, senior economist of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Current statistics cited in in the article, “Study finds poverty rife among First Nations Children” by Nicholas Keung in the Toronto Star concretize the shameful and unpardonable situation endured by First Nations children.

• 47% of status First Nations children live in poverty (53% for those living on reserve and 41% for those living off reserve)
• The poverty rate of First Nations children is two-and-half times above the national average
• First Nations children have experienced long-standing underfunding by government since 1996 when increases were tied to inflation not to need or population growth, a growth rate 4 times that of their non-Indigenous counterparts
• These poverty rates have not markedly changed over the last decade
• The report calls for increased investment to tackle insufficient housing, nonpotable water, and gaps in education and health services

As federal hopefuls begin in earnest knocking on our doors, showcasing their platforms, and bombarding us with TV ads, Be Prepared. Be ready to question, yourself and them,  how they will enact policy changes and budget allocations to change the numbers and categorically change the present and future lives of First Nations children. May future reports spotlight how WE THE NORTH are making it right.

Click here to view the full report

- Sister Nancy Wales, csj

Toronto Star article cites the study here, "Almost half of Status First Nations children live in poverty," study finds :  https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/07/09/almost-half-of-status-first-nations-children-live-in-poverty-study-finds.html

Inside the Say No to Nestlé Campaign

I work as the Campaign Director for the Wellington Water Watchers. Paul Baines, (CSJ Blue Community Coordinator) invited me to write for this blog to update you on our campaign to Say No To Nestlé’.

The Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto recently made generous financial donations to WWW to support this campaign. WWW is launching the next phase of its campaign to Say No To Nestlé. I will write in this blog once a month to keep you up to date on and invite you to join with our campaign.

Say No To Nestlé is an ongoing campaign to stop Nestlé’s water taking in Wellington County. Nestlé currently has permits which allow it to extract up to 4.7 million litres of water per day in Aberfoyle (where it also operates a bottling plant) and in Hillsburgh. Guelph, which is located nearby, is the largest city in Canada that relies 100% on groundwater for its drinking water.

Nestlé is seeking permission for a third well – Middlebrook – in Elora.

View this 8 minute animation on Nestlé’s water taking in Wellington County and our campaign to Say No To Nestlé’.

Wellington Water Watchers is also campaigning for the Ontario government to end the practice of issuing permits to take water for bottling in communities across Ontario. Currently the Ontario government permits the extraction of more than 4.5 billion litres of water each year by commercial bottling by multiple corporations in Ontario.

WWW expects that any day Nestlé will submit an application to renew their permit for water taking in Aberfoyle and Hillsburgh.

In 2016 the Ontario government of Kathleen Wynne imposed a moratorium on permits to take water for bottling – in response to the campaigning of WWW and many others.

Doug Ford’s government lifted the moratorium on existing applications (although it maintained the moratorium on applications for new wells – like the proposed Middlebrook well in Elora).

When Nestlé submits its application there will be a 90-day consultation period – which is conducted completely online – through the Environmental Bill of Rights process. This online consultation excludes concerned people from direct contact with decision-makers. It is designed to separate politicians from people who are concerned about the environmental consequences, commodification of water, plastic waste, and disregard of Six Nations treaty rights of bottling Ontario’s water. In addition, the criteria set by the government for evaluating permits to take water does not assess the cumulative impact of water taking on underground aquifers.

For all of these reasons Wellington Water Watchers opposes Nestlé’s water taking for bottling.

WWW demands that Doug Ford’s government impose a full Environmental Assessment on the policy of issuing permits to take water so that there can be a full public discussion of water bottling by Nestlé and other commercial water bottling operations in Ontario.

You can tell Premier Doug Ford now you support a full Environmental Assessment by clicking here.

PS - If you would like to sign up for the newsletter of the Wellington Water Watchers you can do that here.

Shakespeare Saved My Life

Opening Laura Bates Shakespeare Saved my Life resulted in setting aside my mystery novel and sacrificing hours of sleep, an unexpected happening. 

Dr. Bates, an English professor at the University of Indiana recounts her experience of teaching Shakespearian plays to prisoners in a “supermax” penitentiary in Indiana.  Approval for her project required a huge effort to overcome derision, dismissal, fear, and disbelief despite her excellent success in teaching college courses in other Indiana prisons.  She describes the metamorphosis of inmates enrolled in the program and the appalling conditions in which she met with a group of eight inmates.

They attended class enclosed in windowless segregated cells and knelt on the floor to see through the unlocked waist high openings in their cell doors while Dr. Bates sat on a chair in the corridor. They completed weekly assignments that challenged their abilities and their thought processes.

The following quote (p. 253) is from an account co-written by one of the convicts, an uneducated man who will spend the remainder of his life in jail because he, at age seventeen, committed murder. Studying   Shakespeare changed his life.

“Richard the Second is our launching pad that brings convicts back to normalcy. Then we break the curse that they are defined by their deeds with Henry the Fourth.  After that we build in them the potential for greatness with Henry the Fifth. In Henry the Sixth, we teach them to keep that potential grounded in realistic options. And with Richard the Third, we show them that it is essential that they follow their intrinsic motivation. Richard the Third is the consequence of not being rewarded as one thinks he should be.  He is the consequence of extrinsic motivation.  We do not live in fantasy worlds, and adversity will always exist, especially when one has a history such as ours, but when we are intrinsically driven, as Henry the Eighth is, the adversities do not have breaking power!”

I found myself lamenting the quality of my education in Shakespearian plays and seriously contemplating the project of studying Shakespeare.

-Sr. Patricia McKeon, csj

Seeing through another’s eyes

It seems like just yesterday that they were little boys, doing what little boys do.  Now, suddenly, they are grown men in their late twenties, leading busy adult lives. I am so proud of these delightful, self assured, kind young men.  Sure, I may be biased, for they are my sister’s sons.  It has been years since I spent time with ‘the boys’ – as my sister affectionately still calls them. You see, they live on the other side of the ocean in Germany.  However, much to my delight, they are here on a visit to beautiful Canada.  Time spent with my sister and ‘the boys’ was far too short. To really get reacquainted with my nephews an extra couple of days with them would have been superb. Yet, during our brief time together I noticed what amazing young men they are.  Now, dear reader, you may think, ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’.  Sure, I hear you and am aware of this.  Yes, I may be biased, but hear me out.  Take my younger nephew, for example.  He is very concerned about the state of our world and chose to focus his studies on climate change and dreams of working for an NGO in Nepal.  For several years now, he has chosen to be a vegetarian, prefers to buy used clothing and hardly resembles the many young people who have such a sense of entitlement.

Looking at things Canadian through the eyes of my nephews was quite an eye opener.  They shared how frustrated they were when the car rental dealer in Toronto tried her utmost to convince them that they needed an SUV for their travels.  They could not be swayed, convinced a regular smallish car would serve them very well.  Wherever we drove, they commented on how huge most Canadian vehicles are.  And talking about huge – they couldn’t get over the consumerism.  The multitude of stores everywhere just about overwhelmed them. 

These nephews of mine caused me to pause and ponder about our lifestyle here in North America.  They didn’t much like the concrete jungle of downtown Toronto and though they liked London, Ontario, the forest city, much better, even here they mostly yearned for the outdoors, for a park or a trail.  Unfortunately, it rained most of the time while they were here.  Was this a blessing in disguise?  It afforded me the opportunity to spend treasured moments with my sister and nephews in unplanned and surprising places.  Sure, we went to the quintessential LCBO to check out the wide selection of Canadian beers.  And to the Bulk Store!  You should have seen how fascinated ‘the boys’ were with this concept of scooping whatever into bags.  And, you guessed it, we also ended up in a Goodwill Store where the two ‘big time spenders’ found a few treasures.  Further treasures, of a very different kind, were found in St. Peter’s Basilica.  In the pouring rain we not only found shelter in that magnificent cathedral but shelter in each other as we sat and quietly talked about life, its joys and sorrows, its challenges and blessings. 

What a blessing and gift it was to spend such precious moments with my dear sister and these two wise young men.  I cherish the memory of their presence, their insights, their hugs, the laughter we shared.  Much to my surprise, they remind me of the book ‘Hope for the Flowers’, a fable about life, about revolution and lots of hope.  This precious, albeit brief time with my nephews gives me hope for the future.

Cosmic Agelessness

Wisdom trades places, at home with the young

Seasons pile up

Roles reverse in the natural progression …

 (Jane and Aaron Jackson)

- Sr. Magdalena Vogt, cps

Celebrating Canada Day: We The North

On July 1, 1867 four British colonies: Canada(provinces of Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick joined together to create the Dominion of Canada. The passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 augmented Canada’s power to govern ourselves. With passage of the Constitutions Act in 1982 Canada, composed of ten provinces and three territories, we achieved complete independence from Britain.

Celebrating the victory of the Toronto Raptors was a great prelude to the celebration of Canada Day. Enthusiastic fans watching televised basketball games on the streets, at home, or attending the victory parade in Toronto were the epitome of diversity in unity that is characteristic of our great country. 

We Canadians are a people composed of many faiths, cultures, and ethnic origins.  Most of us arrived in Canada, welcomed by the indigenous Inuit and Indians already here. We are still learning to accept and honour each individual and group as equal and honoured citizens of Canada.

Sports events, such as the public gatherings of Raptor fans, have the power to unite us in a common goal. Community gatherings throughout the country have a similar power to draw people together in celebration of being Canadians. In London, Ontario, Canada Day offers many opportunities to come together, have fun, and contribute to our pride in being Canadian consider participating in:

• Fireworks displays in parks throughout the City
• Night Market June 30, 7:00 to 10:00 pm at Dundas Place, Talbot street with local bands, performers, a craft beer garden, food trucks, artisans, local crafts

These events are opportunities to greet your fellow Londoners, celebrate and promote our unity as Canadians. HAPPY CANADA DAY! 

- Sister Patricia McKeon, csj