kar0ling

Where is your humanity, Prime Minister and all the ministers included on this message (except my compassionate and intelligent MP )?  I urge you to immediately rescind the proposed Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) co-payments and fully restore comprehensive health coverage for refugees and claimants in Canada, before May 1, 2026. The IFHP co-payments will:  (1) Deny access to essential care – a refugee managing diabetes and hypertension may take five or six medications; at $4 per prescription plus 30% co-pays for dental and mental health care, most will simply go without  (2) Cost more, not less – the government still covers 100% of emergency visits and hospitalizations, meaning untreated conditions will drive up ER and hospital costs that dwarf any savings from co-payments  (3) Punish the most vulnerable – refugees are fleeing persecution, war, sexual violence, and torture; co-payments function as a penalty for seeking safety in Canada  (4) Repeat a proven...

Just before unsubscribing from one of a million mailing lists to an email address I'm trying to shut down, I discovered an opportunity to adapt and send a letter on a subject I care about.  Send your own letter here As a constituent in [your jurisdiction will go here], I want to begin by thanking you for your work on behalf of myself and my neighbours. I’m grateful to live in a country in which we have the opportunity to engage with our elected representatives and speak into issues that affect our communities.  As [my MP] has a record of using her power for the people, I don't think she needs convincing, so the rest of this letter is addressed to Minister Diab and the Department of Immigration, Reguees and Citizenship:   The federal government's Immigration Levels plan for 2026 and beyond is unacceptable. The devastating cuts affect real people fleeing conflict and persecution and real Canadians who love them and are waiting to w...

A letter to the Manitoba government on their ludicrous plan. I can't remember where I found the template which I adjusted with my own comments, but it was probably from the Climate Action Team. Check out their resources for advocacy for a better energy future for Manitoba.  Climate Action Team Dear Premier, minister of the environment and minister of finance  I am writing today to voice my utter horror regarding your government’s recent announcement of plans to build a new, $3 billion fossil gas power plant. Could it get any more wrong at this moment? Building new fossil fuel infrastructure that will fuel the climate crisis and keep us reliant on imported fossil gas from Alberta for decades to come is unacceptable. You haven't even tried to supplement our energy with solar, wind, heat pumps and district heat, to say nothing of improving efficiency so we simply need less. My main concerns with this project are: It expands fossil fuel use during an era of climate emergenc...

The winter Olympics become harder and harder to pull off as shrinking and erratic winter weather makes venues unsuitable meanwhile fossil fuel giants greenwash their image as Olympics advertisers? Not cool. Let the minister of health and secretary of state for sport (and Olympic gold medallist) know you want action. Send a letter Dear Minister of Health Marjorie Michel, Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden, Minister of Identity and Culture Marc Miller: I am writing to urge the Government of Canada to decisively reject fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship at the Olympics.  The companies causing global warming should not get to burnish their corporate image by sponsoring the games that need climate stability.  I'm from Winnipeg and I bike all year round. I hate those cold days but what I hate even more is the thought of losing them to global warming.  During the pandemic, Winnipeggers realized we can have a lot of fun outside in winter. People embraced ska...

Slightly adapted from CJPME: I truly believe that leadership requires the courage to close policy gaps that facilitate reckless violence. The Arms Trade Treaty was meant to prevent the very violations we are seeing today. Whether it is the US-armed genocide in Gaza, the kidnapping of a head of state in Venezuela, or the attempted coup in Iran, the US and Israel are destabilizing the world. What will be harmed by slowing down? Obscene profits do not need protection. Just slow down. In fact, why should we even be selling weapons to anyone else? so they can toss them back at us? Caution and rule following is the least we can do! Preferably not make any weapons at all.  Please at very least support Jenny Kwan’s Bill C-233 to end the special treatment given to the completely out of control and lawless United States of Avarice, and ensure that human rights are the primary factor in every arms export decision. Sign your own letter There's a whole campaign because the second half of s...

 A slight departure from my usual letters... Here's a prayer I wrote for worship leading at church this past Sunday (Jan 25). The Scripture passage for the sermon was John 3:1-21, so I drew on some of the images from there.  The final paragraph is adapted from an assurance written by Rev. Dr. Ginny Brown Daniel, in So Loved: Service Prayers for the Fourth Sunday of Lent  (posted on the Worship Ways page of the United Church of Christ website ).  “Light has come into the world” Light has made its home among us as self-giving love.  “But people loved darkness instead of light... for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” There are so many places we long to see the light of truth expose evil deeds:  the genocide in Gaza;  the war in Ukraine;  the conflicts in Sudan, Yemen, DR Congo, Myanmar and the Tigray region of Ethiopia;  political and economic instability in many countries across Latin America;  the lawlessness of law enforcement in...