Students grateful!

Students at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) in Winnipeg organized a forum November 24 to announce that they have stopped paying for their education. In organizing the event, they weren't protesting the high cost of university education or calling for lower tuition fees. Instead, they were saying thank you to those who made it possible for them to go to university. CMU's budget year runs from May 1 to April 30, and student tuition only covers about 40 percent of CMU's annual $12 million budget. November 24 marks the point when 40 percent of the school year is over and tuition fees paid by students no longer cover the university's expenses. After that date, contributions from the Manitoba government, churches, CMU's supporting denominations and individual donors cover CMU's expenses to the end of the budget year. As part of the event, students heard from, and thanked, several people who represented various donors.

Canadian named to WEA council

Bruce J. Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, has been appointed secretary on the World Evangelical Alliance's International Council. Clemenger will be part of a global team serving the worldwide community of evangelical Christians. Other officers include Sang-Bok David Kim (Korea) as chair, Ndaba Mazabane (South Africa) as vice chair and Ken Artz (United States) as treasurer.

Catholic Christian Outreach anniversary

Catholic Christian Outreach is celebrating 20 years of mission among university students in Canada. Started by Andre Regnier, then a recent graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, the movement now has 63 staff and a major presence on eight campuses. It ministers to a thousand students in weekly faith studies, Catholic prayer, social events and yearly mission projects in Canada and abroad. Over the next 20 years, the organization hopes to add 100 staff and minister on 20 more campuses. Catholic Register

UN warns Canada

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has just issued a report on Canada's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The report says Canada's welfare rates are inadequate and this "negatively impacts women's human rights." Joe Gunn, Executive Director of Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) has commented, "The committee has sent a clear message to our governments. Our governments can't hide behind jurisdictional disputes to avoid meeting their obligations to Canada's women and girls. We need action." In an unusual move, the committee not only called on Canada to raise social assistance to an adequate level, but to report back to the committee next year on its progress. CPJ is joining with the Feminist Alliance for International Action, Amnesty International Canada and the National Anti-Poverty Organization to urge Canadian governments to immediately implement the recommendations of the committee.

New WEA mission mag

Connections, the journal of the World Evangelical Alliance's mission commission, is now available online. The latest issue explores contextualization in world mission. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is a member of WEA.

Canadians alarmed over deal with Colombia

Pastor Jim Dekker, a board member with KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, has expressed concern about the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed by Prime Minister Harper November 21. Dekker travelled to Colombia in 2006 to participate in one of a series of International Human Rights Tribunals. He said, "It is disturbing that the Prime Minister signed this deal given Colombia's severe human rights crisis. The testimony I heard continues to haunt me to this day." In the last 20 years, over 70,000 people have been killed in Colombia, many of them victims of paramilitary groups with links to government officials. Days before the deal was signed, over 20,000 Indigenous peoples and their supporters arrived in the city of Bogota to protest policies that threaten their livelihoods, including the Canada-Colombia FTA.

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Benini exhibition at National Gallery

An exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada November 28, 2008 - March 8, 2009, Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture, features 50 works, including some of Bernini's most celebrated sculptures created in marble, as well as works in bronze and porphyry, paintings and drawings. Also on view are portrait busts by other significant sculptors of 17th-century Rome, such as Francesco Mochi, Fran�ois Duquesnoy, Giuliano Finelli and Alessandro Algardi. The exhibition contains many religious references.

CHP's new leader speaks out

The new leader of the Christian Heritage Party, Jim Hnatiuk, has issued a call for the University of Calgary to protect the free speech rights of its students. A student group, Campus Pro-Life, has been ordered by the university's lawyers not to display posters which equate abortion to the Holocaust and to racism. They will only be allowed to have the posters on campus if they are 'turned inward' so they cannot be seen, according to the lawyers' letter. "A university should be a place where peaceful free exchange of ideas is encouraged, not stifled," said Hnatiuk. "That instruction stifles free speech. To say the posters are only allowed if they cannot be seen is the same as saying the posters are not allowed." The full CHP statement, which includes addresses of the CPL and of the university administration, can be read here .

Milton honoured

In honour of the 400th birthday of poet John Milton, Regent College Publishing has just released Paradise Lost: Parallel Prose Edition, with the text paraphrased in contemporary English by Dennis Danielson. "Of all the poems which have hitherto appeared in the world, in whatever age or nation, the preference has generally been given by impartial judges to Milton's Paradise Lost. But this inimitable work, amidst all its beauties, is unintelligible to [an] abundance of readers," declared John Wesley in 1763. Danielson's translation has been reviewed on the front page of the New York Times' web edition.

Climate change day

For the third year in a row, KAIROS (Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives) urges participation in the Day of Action on Climate Change on Sunday December 7. It is calling on Canadians to stage demonstrations urging the Canadian government to play a leading role in developing a strong "Kyoto II" international treaty that is both equitable and effective in minimizing dangerous climate change. Free resources, including a skit and a draft worship service, are available from the website: www.re-energize.org

December 5/2008