Barbara Wood, CoDev Executive Director, shares the first of a 3-part report on Berenice Celeyta’s (NOMADESC) 2011 visit to Canada.

The two of us turned the corner onto Rideau Street and were nearly knocked over by the wind. Colombian partner and human rights defender, Berenice Celeyta, and I were on our way to visit the office of Peter Julian, MP for Burnaby-New Westminster. Walking the three blocks at these temperatures is nothing for those that live in Ottawa but definitely rather shocking for a Colombian used to the tropical temperatures of Cali. Some cold weather doesn’t stop a Colombian human rights worker though, and a warm greeting awaited us when we met with Mounia Lahbabi and Henri Sader, Peter’s Ottawa office team. Peter, Henri and Mounia together with people across the country worked hard to defeat the Canada Colombia Free Trade agreement in 2009/10. Though Berenice had never met them, there existed an instant connection because of our common history.

Though the CCFTA was passed in the Canadian parliament in June 2010, and just recently in the Colombian Constitutional Court, there remains work to do. At the meeting we discussed possible strategies for using the human rights impact report that was added to the CCFTA by the Liberal Party to make a trade agreement with the worst human rights violator in the hemisphere somewhat less disagreeable.

The human rights amendment allows for the Canadian and Colombian governments to issue reports on the impact the CCFTA has had on human rights in both countries annually. This is not the mechanism that was being requested by the opposition parties nor Canadian civil society. Given that the reports are the responsibility of the governments and not carried out by an independent third party, there is little hope that they will reveal much in the way of critical assessment. What the human rights report may give both Colombian and Canadian civil society, however, is a moment in which we can raise concerns, insure that the voices of victims of violence and state crimes are heard and to demand that the Colombian government bring an end to the violence and impunity.

This meeting is an example of why we at CoDev bring partners to meet with Canadians – to share our strategies and discuss how best we can work together for justice and social change.

In the CUPE National office the day before, Berenice and I met with the union leadership to brainstorm new ways in which we could help increase the security of the NOMADESC team and the communities and leaders they work with. The number and severity of threats against them has increased to even more worrisome levels during the last year. Though Berenice assured the group that letters remain critical, we discussed additional actions that could be taken in emergency situations. We encourage each of you to take a moment to support the current action posted on our website to speak out against these kinds of threats facing Berenice and her co-workers.

This is the kind of solidarity that develops with time and the commitment to seeing each others as equals.

It was one moment, among many, of important connection between Berenice and members of Canadian partners. In our three days in Ottawa, we met with representatives of CUPE, the PSAC and the CUPW as well as Peace Brigades International. We met with an MP from the Bloc and representatives from DFAIT and CIDA.

Moving from the cold to the rain coast, we will spend some days in Vancouver to meet with partners and others here and continue on to Regina. Many thanks to CUPE Global Justice Fund who invited Berenice and are supporting her tour.

Barbara Wood, CoDev Executive Director, shares the last in her 3-part report on Berenice Celeyta’s (NOMADESC) 2011 visit to Canada.

“When I told people I was coming to Regina in early March, everyone looked horrified. I want you to know, though, that I have never felt so much warmth from people – you have made me feel at home.” With those words, Berenice began her address on March 9th to the delegates of the CUPE Saskatchewan convention. She thanked CUPE and all the Canadian unions for their ongoing support through letters, program funding and delegations. She thanked CoDev for facilitating that solidarity and the people present for their warmth.

The day before Berenice spoke with members of CUPE Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal Council. She shared stories of the dignity and strength of the Colombian indigenous people. She also spoke of the similarities between the aboriginal cultures here and in Colombia – the respect for the earth, respect for elders, respect for one another and for differing opinions. She shared with the aboriginal delegates how the Colombian indigenous people from Cauca led a national movement that held a People’s Congress last October in Bogota. At the congress, 25,000 participants from different sectors and regions met and talked for four days about what they want for Colombia and what they need to get there. On the last day, the participants marched to the central plaza where they took their place as the People’s Congress, right outside the National Congress.

When Berenice finished speaking, aboriginal leaders offered her sweet grass, a miniature Métis sash and then wrapped her in a traditional blanket for protection.

The next day, at the end of her presentation to all the convention delegates, Berenice again thanked the aboriginal delegates for the blanket, saying she felt that protection would help her continue her work. In exchange, Berenice removed from her neck a beaded necklace made for her by the Nasa people of northern Cauca and gave it to the CUPE Aboriginal Council.

The exchange was a meaningful and concrete example of the solidarity fostered by CoDev and embodied in this case by Berenice and CUPE Saskatchewan. An act of mutual recognition and respect. A step towards equality and justice.

Berenice has returned to Colombia where she will continue her work alongside many other courageous women and men who stand up for human rights and work for justice every day.

Be sure to read the first and second parts of this series.

Sign Up for CoDev’s Young Worker’s Delegation to Honduras and El Salvador! Nov 30th- Dec 9th, 2011

Part of CoDev’s mandate and partnership model is making links between Canadians and Latin Americans for mutual learning and solidarity. One of the best ways to deepen this understanding is through delegations: taking Canadians to Latin America to meet the partners they support and learn firsthand about their issues. Canadian participants inevitably return home with a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by their Latin American partners, a greater appreciation of their depth of knowledge and a strengthened commitment to engaging in solidarity here at home.

This type of commitment often extends to the workers’ involvement in their union in Canada as well, and the connections made during the trip are invaluable once back home.

We have included a tentative itinerary below of the trip to Honduras and El Salvador, which includes visiting two CoDev partners and a number of other groups (there will also be 2 pre-trip orientation sessions in October).

We believe that this is an important and unique opportunity for young workers to see firsthand the beneficial outcomes of union international solidarity programs, so we are targeting 18 to 30 year-olds.

Because of the amount of work required to coordinate a delegation, we need to have at least 8 people confirmed by the end of September 2011, which is when a non-refundable deposit will be collected from participants.

We are still calculating the total cost of the delegation but it will be roughly $3000 per participant, which includes all airfare, transportation, shared hotel accommodation and meals for the 10 days.

We are looking for your help in promoting this opportunity to young union activists. If you have any questions we would be happy to meet with you to talk about how this delegation can help you achieve your mandate of organizing youth in your union.

Tentative Itinerary (Nov 30th- Dec 9th)

• Day 1: Arrive San Pedro Sula
• Day 2: Meet with CODEMUH (the HonduranWomen’s Collective) and factory workers, visit free trade zones and factories, if possible.
• Day 3: Meet with FRNP (representatives of Honduran resistance movement) and human rights organizations. Visit to Radio Progreso.
• Day 4: Travel to Esperanza Valley in El Salvador.
• Day 5 &6: Meet with Youth group of rural community health group APSIES and visit the various APSIES projects & communities.
• Day 7: Possible beach day at la Union
• Day 8: Travel to San Salvador and explore
• Day 9: Meeting with Salvadoran maquila workers & FMLN (left-wing political party) youth wing.
• Day 10: Depart San Salvador for Vancouver

For more information you can contact Carol Wood 604.708.1495 or Sarena Talbot 604.708.1495 x 116.

On May 15 the Canadian government tabled its first legally mandated report on the impact of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) on human rights in Parliament. Rather than reviewing and commenting on human rights, the report outlines the methodology that will be used to deliver a report in one year’s time. The report, in fact, is devoid of any detail regarding human rights in Colombia, a fact that has angered human rights groups and NGOs both in Canada and Colombia. The government defended the report saying that because the CCFTA has been in effect for less than a year there was not enough time to measure results or impact.

When the Canadian government first introduced their plan to enter into a free trade agreement with Colombia in 2007 there was concern raised regarding the ethics of signing a trade agreement with the worst human rights violator in the hemisphere. CoDev, along with many other Canadian international development organizations, labour unions and many individuals advocated that the Canadian government implement an independent human rights impact assessment prior to the CCFTA being signed. Such an assessment would not only help to illuminate what effect a free trade agreement would have on the ongoing human rights crisis in that country, it would also provide baseline date from which a future trade agreement could be measured. The Canadian Parliamentary Standing Committee for International Trade recommended the same thing in 2008 when they recommended not entering into the agreement. That resolution was overturned and the CCFTA passed through the Canadian Parliament in 2011 with a vague clause that committed each government to present a report on the impact of the CCFTA on the human rights situation in each country.

Canada’s first report, tabled in the House this week, falls far short of its mandate. By totally failing to consider the human rights situation in Colombia, the report leaves in doubt the usefulness of this mechanism.

In Colombia, meanwhile, 17 trade unionists have been assassinated since the CCFTA was signed. The Americas Policy Group (APG) of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC), of which CoDev is an active member, is working with Colombian partner organizations to support an alternative and community-based analysis of the CCFTA and its impact on human rights. As part of that collaboration, the APG published an excellent briefing note on the CCFTA human rights report with detailed concerns and recommendations.

CoDev’s Colombian Partners have rejected the CCFTA and a similar trade agreement with the US citing concerns about rights, territory and displacement.

CoDev will continue to follow the situation with the support and direction from our Colombian partners.

Commentary from other organizations:

• Amnesty International
• Canadian Labour Congress
• Mining Watch

Some media coverage:

• Post Media: Human rights report on Colombia panned as ‘whitewash’
• Canadian Press: Feds fail to conduct promised review of trade and Colombian human rights
  

In 2007 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper opened negotiations for a free trade agreement with Colombia signalling shared values of “freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law”. Given that Colombia was the worst violator of human rights in the Americas at the time, many Canadian civil society groups including unions, human rights groups, churches and NGOs protested the decision, asking for a full, independent human rights impact assessment be implemented before the deal went ahead. 

After many months of hearings and protests, the government passed the CCoFTA in August after inserting a clause into the agreement requiring both the Canadian and Colombian governments to produce annual reports on the human rights impact of the deal. 

The first such report, presented in Parliament in May 2012 did not fulfill its mandate because the agreement had only been in effect for less than a year. This first report did, however, lay out a methodological framework for how the human rights impact was to be measured in the next report. 

Earlier this month, at the end of the day on Friday, June 14 2013, the second report on the human rights impact assessment of the CCoFTA was presented to a parliamentary clerk. The report does not follow the proposed methodology set out in the 2012 report. Rather, the report describes the economic results of the CCoFTA and concludes by saying that it is not possible to draw a link between the trade deal and human rights. The quick abandonment of the ideal that Canadian trade should not have a negative impact on human rights in another country nor benefit from existing human rights violations is deeply disappointing to Canadians who believe that respect for human rights must trump economic interest. 

As CoDev we will continue to work with Colombian partners to defend and promote human rights in that country and document and make known violations as they happen. 

For more analysis and opinion on the latest CCoFTA human rights report we encourage you to read this piece from Embassy Magazine (PDF) written by myself and Rachel Warden as well as a recent Globe and Mail piece.

An open letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs from the Americas’ Policy Group (APG), a working group of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) and Co-Chaired by Barbara Wood, CoDev Executive Director, expressing concern over the disruption of democratic order in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and the lack of clarity in Canada’s position on the crisis.

Read the full letter here.

This past June 7, CoDev celebrated its 2014 Annual Solidarity and Fundraising Dinner at the Maritime Labour Centre. Hundreds of guests enjoyed the good company of friends and colleagues while dining on delicious latin-themed fare. In the background guitarist Aquizamin Gracia played a range of latin favourites while enthusiastic supporters tried to outbid each other at the silent auction tables on items ranging from works by prominent artists to jewelry to vacation stays and so much more. A highlight of the evening as always, was the dessert auction featuring more than 30 cakes and desserts. Diners bid as a table with the highest bidding table having first pick at the dessert table.

Solidarity Award Winners

The evening also provided CoDev with the opportunity to present its annual Solidarity Award. This year’s recipients were all involved in the five-year struggle to achieve justice for the temporary foreign workers from Latin America who worked on the Canada Line project. The case involved inequities in the treatment of workers with the Latin American workers receiving far lower compensation than their European counterparts. Award recipients include a group of individuals (including the workers themselves) and labour organizations who – through their collective action and commitment – achieved justice for those Latin American workers caught in the global exploitation of migrant and temporary workers. We congratulate all the recipients: Joe Barrett, who first identified the issue, Charles Gordon, a human rights attorney, Ignacio Sanchez, one of the 36 temporary foreign workers, the BC Building Trades and the Construction and Specialized Workers’ Union, Local 1611.

Joe Barrett had this to say, “From the Canada Line struggle I learned that solidarity among a crew of workers arises when the exploitation is clear and intolerable. It takes courage to put aside personal fears and a moral compass to put aside prospects of personal gain in favour of collective action.

And in what was to be Barbara Wood’s final Annual Dinner as Executive Director, she and Steve Stewart, Program Director, paid tribute to our Canadian partners by recognizing their connections and commitment to our Latin American partners. At each mention, representatives from the Canadian partners rose to the applause of their brothers and sisters in the audience.

Joey & Carol – Dinner 2014

It was also a night for goodbyes. The first was our Program Director, Carol Wood who for 11 years worked extensively to bring our Northern and Southern partners together, led numerous delegations that inspired the participant to lifelong activism, oversaw our popular film festival each year, and so much more.

It was Barbara’s final dinner because as many of you know, she is leaving CoDev after 15 years of dedicated service. In the coming weeks, we’ll have more on Barbara’s years as CoDev’s Executive Director. So stay tuned.

Honduras deal: Another example of Canada’s poor record on trade and human rights.

Excerpted from Embassy magazine (Wednesday, July 9, 2014), Bill Fairbairn and Tara Ward are co-chairs, and Stacey Gomez is the co-ordinator of the Americas Policy Group, a working group of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation focused on development and social justice issues in the Americas.

Despite compelling testimony provided over the past year that emphasized the dire human rights situation in Honduras, the act to implement the Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement quietly passed its third reading in the Senate in June and received royal assent.

This is déjà vu for many Canadian civil society organizations engaged in Latin America. Once again, commercial interests have sadly trumped human rights concerns, just like they did three years ago with the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, or the CCOFTA.

The Colombia deal was implemented in the midst of continued human rights violations and ongoing armed conflict that began five decades ago and that has claimed the lives of at least 220,000 Colombians, mostly civilians.

Canada’s record with the Colombian trade deal and the passing of the new Honduran agreement speak volumes about the Canadian government’s disinterest both in specific human rights concerns and in the real potential that Canadian commercial activities will in fact exacerbate the crises in these countries.

In May, for a third consecutive year, the Canadian government failed in its legal obligation to monitor the human rights effects of the Colombia deal. This year’s report made only passing reference to the human rights situation in Colombia and said nothing about continuing assaults on lives and lands, particularly in areas coveted by third parties for their economic potential.

Instead, the report focused narrowly on tariff reductions and trade flows, ignoring links between investment and human rights. The government’s conclusion: “It is not possible to establish a direct link between the CCOFTA and the human rights situation in Colombia.”

All three reports to date have lacked independence, transparency and the inclusive participation of communities directly affected by the deal.

Honduras

It is with a similar lack of transparency over and engagement with human rights concerns that Parliament passed the new agreement with Honduras.

Since the 2009 military coup d’état in Honduras, citizens have experienced high levels of state repression, spiralling violence, the almost complete failure of all governmental institutions and rule of law as well as skyrocketing poverty levels.

This troubling reality was brought to the attention of parliamentarians on numerous occasions.

Pablo Heidrich of the North-South Institute told the House of Commons trade committee that levels of violence are actually increasing in Honduras with an average of 20 murders per day, compared with two murders per day in Canada, which has four times more population.

Despite the complicity of post-coup governments in Honduras’ current crisis, the Canadian government has demonstrated unwavering political support. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was the first foreign head of state to travel to Honduras in August 2011 after it was reinstated to the Organization of American states, when he announced the trade deal.

The Canadian government, many members of Parliament, senators and industry representatives have frequently asserted that the trade deal will improve conditions for Hondurans. Unable to negate the troubling human rights situation in Honduras, they have repeated the false dichotomy that we can either “engage” with Honduras through a free trade agreement or “isolate” the country without one.

Yet during parliamentary hearings, MPs repeatedly heard that the principal beneficiaries of the trade agreement would be a select group of Canadian investors in the mining, textile and tourist sectors, and not the poor majority in Honduras. Ricardo Grinspun of York University stated, “what are required are policies to strengthen state initiatives in the social sector, including education, training, promotion of small enterprises, and protecting labour and social rights. Many of these aspects are not part of the FTA. The strengthening of investors’ rights by disregarding other rights actually works in the opposite direction.”

Heidrich further testified to Parliament: “In general, the international … experience of using FTAs as leverage is not very successful, not even for countries that have a much bigger domestic market to offer access to, such as the [United States] or again the [European Union], or Japan.”

The Colombian deal’s grossly flawed human rights reporting mechanism obscures any official recognition of the displacement and loss of lives occurring in Colombia in order benefit big business.

A similar trade agreement with Honduras will again give corporations access to the strongest investor protection mechanism around – private international arbitration – while communities pay with their lives and lands.

In light of our experience with the Colombian deal and the repeated concerns expressed by our Honduran partners, we believe Canada should not have signed a trade deal with Honduras and we still call upon the Canadian government to fulfill its human rights obligations.

Hondurans just marked the grim fifth anniversary of the coup on June 28, reminding us that Canada’s foreign policy, aid and trade strategy must be revised to put human rights first, not investor rights above all else.

CoDevelopment Canada (CoDev) is a BC-based non-profit agency that works for social change in Latin America and in Canada. We build partnerships with organizations in Canada and throughout Latin America to protect workers’ rights, build solidarity for public education, strengthen grassroots initiatives, engage Canadians in global issues and promote fair trade.

We are looking for a Program Assistant to join our team.

15 hours per week / $26.78 per hour starting wage / Start date is 15 October 2014 / Terms and conditions per Collective Agreement with CUPE 1004.

Description: The Program Assistant will work with CoDev’s Program Director and Executive Director to assist with specific administrative tasks related to the organization’s international programming. Secondary responsibilities for outreach and public education as well as general office duties will be included in the person’s job activities as time allows.

The Program Assistant will assist the Program Director and Executive Director in the following:

Administration, Latin American Partners:

• Ensure required program documents are received from Latin American partners, including: program proposals, agency agreements, wire transfer receipts, narrative and financial reports, and program receipts.
• Coordinate translation of Latin American partner narrative reports and receipt listings for financial reports.
• Preparation of Latin American partner financial files for annual audit.

Administration, Canadian Partners

• Translate communications including urgent actions and solidarity messages between Canadian and Latin American counterparts.
• Prepare Canadian partner tours to Latin America.

Outreach and events

• Organize Canadian tours of Latin American partners, including accompaniment of visitors and informal interpretation.
• Participate in CoDev public events and outreach activities including tabling, workshops, social media, etc.

Skills required:

• Excellent organizational skills,
• Proficiency in written and spoken Spanish,
• Understanding of, and sensitivity to, the culture of Latin American social movements,
• Administrative experience. and
• An ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent understanding of international development issues, especially related to the areas of gender and development, and the objectives and functions of the Canadian and international labour movements an asset.

To apply: Resumes and cover letters may be sent to CoDev by 12 September 2014. Email codev@codev.org.

Our guest speaker this year will be Sandra Moran of our Latin American partner, The Artesana Collective, who will share with us some highlights of their work.

Thursday, 18 September 2014, 6:30 pm at Creekside Community Recreation Centre, 1 Athlete’s Way, Vancouver, BC.

Sandra Moran is one of Guatemala’s most prominent feminists and performance artists. She joined the Guatemalan human rights movement at fourteen and during the 1980s became involved with Guatemala’s renowned rebel band Kin Lalat. Sandra’s human rights and musical activism made her a target for the death squads and by the late 1980s, she was forced into exile in Nicaragua, Mexico and Vancouver, Canada to escape the violence. During her years in exile, she participated in solidarity work and became involved in the Canadian women’s movement. Sandra returned to Guatemala City in the mid-1990s to continue her work for women’s rights. Upon her return, she came out as a lesbian, and has also been active in promoting GBLTQ rights in Guatemala.

Sandra says she is “committed to understanding systems of oppression from different points of view.” She believes that to create positive social change, activists must confront internalized beliefs of racism, homophobia, and other prejudices while addressing external systems of oppression.

Sandra and her band “Viento en Contra” (Against the Wind)

Sandra speaks (in English) about the work of Artesana

The Artesana Collective is an organization promoting institutional action to contribute to women’s organization and the women’s movement in Guatemala. The Artesana Collective pressures the State to create and apply public policy in order to prevent crimes against women, support the rights of detained women, and to stop social discrimination. The Artesana Collective works to contribute to the recognition, respect and exercise of women’s rights through art, sports and other forms of creativity. The Artesana Collective is formed by feminist women, defenders of human rights, artists and professionals.

You don’t have to be a member of CoDev to attend! Only CoDev members are eligible to vote at our AGM but everyone is welcome to attend as a non-voting participant.

Please see the CoDev Financial Report 2013-14 for consideration at the AGM.

If you have been a CoDev member for more than 60 days at the time of our AGM you are eligible to stand for the board of directors. Interested members should complete the Board Invitation to Apply 2014! 

Enjoy these great photos of our 2012 AGM, courtesy of Josh Berson Photography, and we’ll be posting photos from the 2014 AGM in late September!

Apply now for a weekend retreat on Gambier Island, September 26-28, with Guatemalan activist, Sandra Moran. You will meet others, learn from Sandra, and make plans for ongoing solidarity!

Sandra Moran is one of Guatemala’s most prominent feminists and performance artists. Sandra’s human rights and musical activism made her a target for death squads and by the late 1980’s she was forced into exile in Nicaragua, Mexico and Vancouver, Canada to escape the violence. Sandra returned to Guatemala City in the mid-1990’s to continue her work for women’s rights. Upon her return, she came out as a lesbian, and has also been active in promoting GBLTQ rights in Guatemala. She believes that to create positive social change, activists must confront internalized beliefs of racism, homophobia, and other prejudices while addressing external systems of oppression.

Apply now – space is limited: Global Solidarity Retreat – application

Supporters, donors and friends … you are all invited to the CoDev Annual Open House on Thursday, December 11, 2014. Stop by the CoDev offices between 4 and 8 pm and enjoy the company of your fellow CoDev supporters along with fine food and beverages.And, if you choose to become a monthly donor at the Open House, a special gift awaits! Two beautifully etched cocktail glasses proclaiming “Solidarity” or “Justice”. Becoming a monthly donor is easy. Sign up here and never be reminded about membership dues again!

Barbara Wood, CoDev Executive Director, shares the last in her 3-part report on Berenice Celeyta’s (NOMADESC) 2011 visit to Canada.

“When I told people I was coming to Regina in early March, everyone looked horrified. I want you to know, though, that I have never felt so much warmth from people – you have made me feel at home.” With those words, Berenice began her address on March 9th to the delegates of the CUPE Saskatchewan convention. She thanked CUPE and all the Canadian unions for their ongoing support through letters, program funding and delegations. She thanked CoDev for facilitating that solidarity and the people present for their warmth.

The day before Berenice spoke with members of CUPE Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal Council. She shared stories of the dignity and strength of the Colombian indigenous people. She also spoke of the similarities between the aboriginal cultures here and in Colombia – the respect for the earth, respect for elders, respect for one another and for differing opinions. She shared with the aboriginal delegates how the Colombian indigenous people from Cauca led a national movement that held a People’s Congress last October in Bogota. At the congress, 25,000 participants from different sectors and regions met and talked for four days about what they want for Colombia and what they need to get there. On the last day, the participants marched to the central plaza where they took their place as the People’s Congress, right outside the National Congress.

When Berenice finished speaking, aboriginal leaders offered her sweet grass, a miniature Métis sash and then wrapped her in a traditional blanket for protection.

The next day, at the end of her presentation to all the convention delegates, Berenice again thanked the aboriginal delegates for the blanket, saying she felt that protection would help her continue her work. In exchange, Berenice removed from her neck a beaded necklace made for her by the Nasa people of northern Cauca and gave it to the CUPE Aboriginal Council.

The exchange was a meaningful and concrete example of the solidarity fostered by CoDev and embodied in this case by Berenice and CUPE Saskatchewan. An act of mutual recognition and respect. A step towards equality and justice.

Berenice has returned to Colombia where she will continue her work alongside many other courageous women and men who stand up for human rights and work for justice every day.

Be sure to read the first and second parts of this series.

CoDev is a dynamic international development organization and we are looking for like-minded people to lend a hand. If you are interested in public outreach, graphic design and social media, program and film festival support, translation and more, please come to our Volunteer Information Session.

Thursday, 12 February 2015
4:00-5:00 pm
260-2747 East Hastings Street

Please RSVP to Cindy at cpandini[at]codev.org. Even if you can’t make it on the 12th, we can arrange another time for you to visit.

To learn more about our volunteer opportunities please visit our Volunteer page and complete a volunteer application.

CoDevelopment donors are generous, thoughtful and well-informed. They give now because they know that their support of global justice has an impact. Providing for CoDev with a bequest will help to ensure that impact in the future.

To learn more visit our Planned Giving page.

Read about legacy giver Owen Williams.

CoDev’s semi-annual newsletter is now available for download!

On May 15 the Canadian government tabled its first legally mandated report on the impact of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) on human rights in Parliament. Rather than reviewing and commenting on human rights, the report outlines the methodology that will be used to deliver a report in one year’s time. The report, in fact, is devoid of any detail regarding human rights in Colombia, a fact that has angered human rights groups and NGOs both in Canada and Colombia. The government defended the report saying that because the CCFTA has been in effect for less than a year there was not enough time to measure results or impact.

When the Canadian government first introduced their plan to enter into a free trade agreement with Colombia in 2007 there was concern raised regarding the ethics of signing a trade agreement with the worst human rights violator in the hemisphere. CoDev, along with many other Canadian international development organizations, labour unions and many individuals advocated that the Canadian government implement an independent human rights impact assessment prior to the CCFTA being signed. Such an assessment would not only help to illuminate what effect a free trade agreement would have on the ongoing human rights crisis in that country, it would also provide baseline date from which a future trade agreement could be measured. The Canadian Parliamentary Standing Committee for International Trade recommended the same thing in 2008 when they recommended not entering into the agreement. That resolution was overturned and the CCFTA passed through the Canadian Parliament in 2011 with a vague clause that committed each government to present a report on the impact of the CCFTA on the human rights situation in each country.

Canada’s first report, tabled in the House this week, falls far short of its mandate. By totally failing to consider the human rights situation in Colombia, the report leaves in doubt the usefulness of this mechanism.

In Colombia, meanwhile, 17 trade unionists have been assassinated since the CCFTA was signed. The Americas Policy Group (APG) of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC), of which CoDev is an active member, is working with Colombian partner organizations to support an alternative and community-based analysis of the CCFTA and its impact on human rights. As part of that collaboration, the APG published an excellent briefing note on the CCFTA human rights report with detailed concerns and recommendations.

CoDev’s Colombian Partners have rejected the CCFTA and a similar trade agreement with the US citing concerns about rights, territory and displacement.

CoDev will continue to follow the situation with the support and direction from our Colombian partners.

Commentary from other organizations:

• Amnesty International
• Canadian Labour Congress
• Mining Watch

Some media coverage:

• Post Media: Human rights report on Colombia panned as ‘whitewash’
• Canadian Press: Feds fail to conduct promised review of trade and Colombian human rights
  

Some original partners help us reflect on 30 years of supporting solidarity in Latin America.

We Can Do Better!

Members of CoDev partner CODEMUH march for women’s rights in Honduras

There are an awful lot of important issues being talked about during this extended election period. Canada’s policy on foreign aid and international development is one that CoDev and the international cooperation community are keen to see included. There have been significant changes to Canada’s policies on these issues in the past decade, and many in the international development and solidarity community believe there is an urgent need to take a long hard look at the direction our country has taken.

We believe Canada has an important role to play at the international level, and that policy decisions here at home have a real impact on the lives of people throughout the world. With that in mind, CoDev has contacted the parties running in this federal election with a list of questions about their stance on key issues related to inequality, women’s rights, environmental sustainability and trade justice.

CoDev’s letter to the parties running in the 2015 federal election

We’ve asked the parties to respond to our questions by September 30th so that we can share their stances with CoDev members and the general public. In the meantime, we’re posting our questions here for people looking for tools to address Canada’s role in international development in the lead-up to October 19th. We encourage our members to use them as a tool to formulate your own questions when engaging with the parties in this election, whether at all-candidates forums, when campaigners knock at your door, or when discussing the election with friends and co-workers.

CoDev is part of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC), the umbrella group for organizations engaged in international cooperation. CCIC has developed a great election tool kit for both individuals and organizations, which CoDev has drawn on in developing our questions. It’s full of excellent resources for reaching out to candidates and educating yourself on the issues. We encourage you to check out the We Can Do Better campaign website and share it and the Election Toolkit with your networks.

Pop the popcorn and dim the lights – the Just Film Festival 2016 arrives Feb 11-13. For complete information and to buy tickets visit justfilm.org.