Time to Move Beyond War
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On Sept 25, 2002, a group of over 100 prominent Canadians issued a joint statement at a Toronto press conference opposing the impending US war on Iraq. Speaking at the press conference were Anton Kuerti (pianist), Linda McQuaig (author), Dale Hildebrand (representing KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiative) and Michael Mandel (law professor).
Signatories include artists, writers, entertainers, medical professionals, academics and religious and labour leaders, among them Canadas cultural icons like Margaret Atwood, Robert Bateman, Pierre Berton, David Suzuki, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Senator Douglas Roche, a former Canadian Ambassador to the UN.
The world will not become a safer place because a country with a vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction uses its military might to bomb others that it alleges are developing the same weaponry, says pianist Anton Kuerti, As we are beginning to realize, sanctions too can become a weapon of mass destruction, when even something like chlorine, which is crucial to maintaining a safe water supply, is banned.
THE STATEMENT IS NOW BEING CIRCULATED WIDELY ACROSS CANADA by broad-based church, labour, academic, peace, and development organizations, including the Physicians for Global Survival and the Canadian Network to End Sanctions on Iraq (CANESI).
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Time to Move Beyond War
We, the undersigned, are deeply alarmed that the most powerful nations in the world continue to rely on military force to achieve their global political and economic goals - while eroding the standard of living, the environment, and the security of people throughout the world.
We are united in the belief that a military attack on Iraq at this juncture would be profoundly immoral, and would almost certainly result in destabilizing repercussions that would endanger the whole world.
Since the 1991 Gulf War, an estimated 1.5 million Iraqis have died as a result of shortages of food and medicine under sanctions. Iraq's water and sewage treatment facilities, destroyed during the Gulf War, have not yet been restored due to sanctions - resulting in an epidemic of water-borne diseases throughout the country.
In August 1999, UNICEF confirmed that 500,000 Iraqi children, mainly under the age of 5 years, had died under sanctions, and that a further 25\% of all Iraqi children suffer from chronic and acute malnutrition.
Military action would first and foremost affect the long-suffering civilian population of Iraq. It would constitute an unprovoked act of aggression and would present the very real danger of igniting a larger conflict far beyond the borders of Iraq.
No connection has been confirmed between Iraq and the September 11th terrorist attacks. Furthermore, no convincing evidence has been produced that Iraq is in possession of weapons of mass destruction, or that it has plans to threaten to use, or to use, such weapons in the near future.
The world cannot be made safe from weapons of mass destruction by countries that possess vast arsenals of such weaponry, bombing other nations for allegedly pursuing the same weaponry.
Global peace and security can only be achieved by entering into negotiated and verifiable agreements to rid the world of all weapons of mass destruction.
Bombing sites that could contain nuclear, chemical or biological weapons should be unthinkable, as it would hold the potential for a global human and environmental catastrophe.
We urge the Canadian government and the people of Canada to do everything in their power to oppose military action against Iraq and to seek peaceful means to resolve outstanding issues.
Peace can only be built upon a foundation of diplomacy and justice. We must work to uphold international law and to safeguard human rights, the environment, and global human security. Then, and only then, can the world move beyond terrorism and war.
Signatories / Signataires jusquа prйsent (version anglaise):
1 Senator Douglas Roche, O.C., Senate of Canada
2 Anton Kuerti, Concert Pianist, O.C.
3 Margaret Atwood, Author and Graeme Gibson
4 Pierre Berton, Author
5 Mel Hurtig, Author
6 Birgit and Robert Bateman, Artists
7 Gathie Falk, C.M., Artist
8 Linda McQuaig Author & Journalist
9 Naomi Klein, Author
10 Benjamin Butterfield, Opera Singer. L. Mus. McGill
11 Russell Braun, Opera Singer
12 John Beckwith, C.M., Composer
13 The Very Rev. the Hon. Lois Wilson, O.C.
14 Elizabeth May, Environmental Activist
15 Bruce Cockburn, O.C., Musician/Singer
16 Buffy Sainte-Marie, Singer
17 Dr. David Suzuki, Professor Emeritus UBC
18 Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians
19 Murray Dobbin, Author and Columnist
20 Tony Clarke, Author, Director, Polaris Institute
21 Judy Rebick, CAW-Sam Gindin Chair, Social Justice & Democracy, Ryerson U.
22 James Clancy, President, National Union of Public and General Employees
23 Buzz Hargrove, President, Canadian Auto Workers (CAW)
24 Deborah Bourque, President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)
25 Muriel Duckworth, C.M. Peace Activist
26 Judy Darcy, President, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)
27 Kenneth V. Georgetti, President, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
28 Murray Thomson, O.C., Founder of Peacefund Canada
29 Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Former Director, Institute of Concern for Public Health
30 Ursula M. Franklin C.C. FRSC, University Professor Emeritas, U. of T.
31 Joanna Miller, Saskatoon, President, UNICEF Canada 1978-80
32 Greta Timmins, Calgary, President, UNICEF Canada 1984-1986
33 Marion Dewar C.M. Past Chair, Oxfam Canada, former Mayor of Ottawa
34 Newton Bowles United Nations Representative, Pugwash
35 Dr. Mary-Wynne Ashford, MD, Ph.D. Past President, Intl Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
36 David Orchard, Author and Farmer
37 Dale Hildebrand, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiative
38 Libby Davies, Member of Parliament, Vancouver-East
39 Svend Robinson, Member of Parliament for Burnaby-Douglas
40 Bill Blaikie, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg-Transcona
41 Alexa McDonough, Leader of the Federal New Democratic Party
42 Timothy Vernon, Artistic Director, Pacific Opera Victoria, Music Director, Orchestra London Interim Music Director, Victoria Symphony Orchestra
43 Donald Grayston, PhD, Director, Institute for the Humanities, SFU
44 Rabbi David Powell, Professor, Ottawa U.
45 Mary Ellen King, SSA Congregational Leader of the Sisters of St. Anne
46 Jane Helleiner, Professor, Director, MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies, Department of Sociology, Brock U.
47 Sylvia Keet Peebles, M.D., FRCP. (C)
48 Katrina Hurley, MD
49 John Price, Associate Professor of History, U. Vic
50 Margaret McGregor, MD, CFPC
51 Edward H. Shaffer PhD, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Economics, U. of Alberta
52 Bev Delong, President, Lawyers for Social Responsibility
53 Carl L. Kline, M.D. FRCP (C)
54 Roy Culpeper, President, The North-South Institute
55 Rafeh Hulays, PhD, CEO, Universco Broadband Networks, Inc.
56 Sr. Mary-Ellen Francoeur Ph.D.
57 Thomas A. Francoeur, Ed.D., M.A. Psych
58 Moira L. McConnell, Professor, Dalhousie Law School
59 Elaine Briиre, Photographer & Filmmaker
60 Arthur W. Clark, M.D., Professor, Faculty of Medicine, U. of Calgary
61 Rev. Dr. John W. Baros-Johnson
62 Mark Sandilands, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, U. of Lethbridge
63 Trudy Govier, Philosopher and Author
64 Robert Hackett, Professor of Communication, SFU; Co-director, NewsWatch
65 Mordecai Briemberg, Radio Broadcaster
66 Tim Draimin, Executive Director, Tides Canada Foundation
67 William K. Carroll, Professor of Sociology, UVic
68 Harold P. Koehler, London Chapter of the Unitarians for Social Justice
69 Warren Magnusson Professor of Political Science, U. Vic
70 Tom Perry, M.D., FRCPC Dept. of Medicine, UBC (former MLA and Minister of Advanced Education, B.C.)
71 Ellen M. Gee, PhD Professor and Chair Department of Sociology and Anthropology SFU
72 Rev. Ray Drennan, Pasteur Йglise unitarienne de Montrйal
73 Dr. Martha Nandorfy (Brock U) and Dr. Daniel Fischlin (U. of Guelph) authors of "Eduardo Galeano: Through the Looking Glass"
74 Charles King, M.D. National Board Member, Physicians for Global Survival
75 Guy Dauncey Author, Winner of May 2002 Nautilus Award at New York Book Expo.
76 Professor Derek Paul, Pugwash Participant and Director, Science for Peace
77 Sr. Eva A. Janning, CPS, Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood, North American Province
78 Riadh Muslih, Publisher, Al Sharouq Newspaper
79 Douglas A. West, Ph.D. Assoc. Prof. and Chair Department of Political Science Lakehead University
80 Nancy Covington, M.D.
81 R.S. Ratner, Professor of Sociology, Dept. of Anthropology and Sociology, UBC
82 Marilyn Porter Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies, Editor of Atlantis, Coordinator of International Network of WS Journals, past president of CSAA and of CRIAW.
83 Professor Aysan Sev'er, Editor: Women's Health and Urban Life Department of Sociology, U. of T.
84 Joan Russow (PhD) Global Compliance Research Project, Former Federal Leader of the Green Party of Canada
85 D. Stephen Lindsay, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology UVIC
86 Evelyn Pierret, FCLC, Provincial Superior Winnipeg Congrйgation des Filles de la Croix
87 Carolyn Bassett, PhD, Coordinator, Canadian Peace Alliance
88 London Sisters of St. Joseph
89 Dale Dewar, MD, CCFP Coordinator, Rural Division of the Department of Family Medicine U. of Sask. College of Medicine
90 Prof. Dan Shrubsole Dept. of Geography, U. of Western Ontario
91 John Fitzpatrick, Secretary-Treasurer, Vancouver and District Labour Council
92 Metta Spencer, Editor-Peace Magazine, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, U.of T.
93 Michael Mandel, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York U.
94 The Rev. Bruce Sanguin, Canadian Memorial United Church
95 Bruna Nota Past International President - Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
96 Joanna Santa Barbara, MD, President of Physicians for Global Survival
97 Dr. Rabab Ward, FRSC, Director, Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems, UBC
98 Elinor D.U. Powell M.D.
99 Alan F. Phillips, M.A.,M.D.,FRCP(C)
100 Joyce Phillips, B.A., A.P.S.W.
101 Dr. E.E. Daniel, Ph.D., FRSC, Department of Pharmacology, U. of Alberta
102 Brian Law Music Director Christchurch NZ. Formerly Ottawa Symphony & Choral Society
103 David Swann MD, FRCP(C), Associate Clinical Professor of Community Medicine, U. of Calgary
104 David Coburn, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, U. of T.
105 Dave Barrett, former Premier of British Columbia
106 Allan Connolly, MD
107 Sheila Zurbrigg MD, MPH, Dalhousie University
108 Dawn A. Russell, Dean, Dalhousie Law School
109 Elaine Gibson, Associate Professor, Dalhousie Law Faculty
110 Tara Gibson, B.Sc. Environmental Scientist Jacques Whitford Environment Ltd.
111 John A. Yogis, Professor, Dalhousie Law School
112 Dr. Ronalda Murphy, BA, LLB, LLM, SJD, Assistant Professor of Law, Dalhousie U.
113 Diana Ginn, Associate Professor, Dalhousie Law School.
114 Philip Girard, Dalhousie Law School
115 Innis Christie, Professor of Law, Dalhousie University
116 Gerry Barr, President-CEO, Canadian Council for International Co-operation
117 Right Rev. Peter R. Coffin, Anglican Bishop of Ottawa
118 Neil Worboys, President, British Columbia Teachers Federation
119 James Laxer, Political Scientist and Author, York University
120 Richard Renshaw, C.S.C., Holy Cross Fathers, English Canadian Prov.
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