Darfur needs to be on election agenda
The United Church of Canada
TORONTO, Jan. 17 /CNW/ — As Canada’s political parties enter the final
week of the election campaign, a group of faith leaders has raised the issue
of Sudan as a concern they believe politicians should pay close attention to
as they try to convince voters that their party should form the next
government.
In a letter sent yesterday to all four party leaders, leaders from more
than a dozen different faith groups, including The United Church of Canada,
the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, and the Vedanta Hindu Society of Toronto,
called on the Canadian government “to include Darfur at the top of its
international policy agenda, and take actions that would be effective in
bringing peace and security to the people there.”
By choosing to send the letter in the midst of the election campaign the
faith leaders wanted to focus the politicians’ attention on the need “to
develop action to assist the suffering and vulnerable people in Darfur, Sudan.
“Canadians are looking to our political leaders to continue taking steps,
unilaterally, bilaterally, and multilaterally, to protect communities under
threat, boldly work with others to resolve the conflict, and restore peace and
safety to the people of Darfur,” the faith leaders say in their letter.
Wendy Gichuru is The United Church of Canada’s Program Coordinator for
East and Central Africa. She says the current election campaign needs to focus
on international issues as well as our domestic concerns like tax cuts, health
care, and crime.
Gichuru says that no matter which party forms the next government, “All
our political leaders have an obligation to share with voters information
about how they plan to further increase Canada’s already significant
contributions to supporting humanitarian and relief efforts in Darfur, Sudan.”
– For further information: please contact: Mary-Frances Denis,
Communications Officer, The United Church of Canada, (416) 231-7680 ext. 2016
(office), (416) 885-7478 (cell), (416) 766-0057 (home)