An Open Letter to the Prime Minister
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
November 26, 2007
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister’s Office
Langevin Block,
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2
Dear Prime Minister,
We, the undersigned leaders of various Christian denominations and their development agencies, are undertaking a one day fast - a suspension of our normal food consumption. This fast will be a sign of our commitment to the task of ending hunger in our world and will provide an opportunity to reflect on what we can do to bring this about.
We are undertaking this fast as part of our churches’ association with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and its End Hunger Fast program that is calling on Canadians to consider ways in which they can help end hunger. We are inviting others in our churches to join us in this fast.
We are deeply conscious that over 800 million people still go hungry. Over 16,000 children die each day from hunger and malnutrition related causes, a daily catastrophe. We cannot accept hunger as normal. As we undertake a personal commitment to examine what we can do to help end hunger, we also call upon our government to redouble its efforts through its aid, trade and human rights policies to join us in this essential work.
Specifically, we ask your government to undertake the following commitments:
- Ensure that sufficient funds are made available to the Canadian International Development Agency to permit Canada to make a major contribution to Millennium Development Goal No. 1 – the halving of the proportion of people facing extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.
- Actively support the Human Right to Adequate Food both domestically and internationally as recognition of the dignity of each person. This human right is articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Canada is a signatory.
- Make development assistance for small agriculture producers a key priority in our aid program. Over 70% of those facing hunger are living in rural areas and gaining their livelihoods through agriculture.
- Include assistance for agriculture producers in developing countries to adapt to climate change as part of a comprehensive Canadian climate change response. Climate change is affecting the ability of many households and developing countries to maintain their food production.
With regards,
Rev. Dr. Richard Fee, General Secretary, The Presbyterian Church in Canada
Rev. Phil Delsaut, President, Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada
Rev. Dr. Ken Bellous, Executive Minister, Baptist Convention of Ontario & Quebec
Cheryl Curtis, Executive Director, The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund of the Anglican Church of Canada
Brian Burditt, Director of World Missions, The Salvation Army
Omega Bula, Executive Minister, Justice, Global and Ecumenical Relations Unit, The United Church of Canada
Roland Grimard, Secrétaire général, Union des Églises Baptistes Françaises au Canada
Ida Mutoigo, Director, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee of Canada
Laurie Cook, Chief Executive Officer, World Relief Canada
Rev. D. Murray Cornelius, Assistant Superintendent for International Missions, The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
Rev. Dr. Bruce Fawcett, Executive Minister, Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches
Donald Peters, Executive Director, Mennonite Central Committee Canada
Rev. Jim Foster, Vice President Global Ministries, Christian & Missionary Alliance
Robert Granke, Executive Director, Canadian Lutheran World Relief
Kelvin Honsinger, Executive Director, Emergency Relief and Development Overseas,
The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
Rev. Stephen Kendall, Principal Clerk of the General Assembly, The Presbyterian Church in Canada
Rev. David Freeman, Vice President Advancement, Christian & Missionary Alliance
Oliver Lofton-Brook, Executive Director, Adventist Development and Relief Agency
Rev. Dr. Gary Nelson, General Secretary, Canadian Baptist Ministries
Kenneth Kim, Director, Presbyterian World Service & Development
Rev. Jeremy Bell, Executive Minister, Canadian Baptists of Western Canada
Paul Brander, International Operations Director, Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada
Jim Cornelius, Executive Director, Canadian Foodgrains Bank
c.c. The Honourable Bev Oda, Minister of International Cooperation
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance
The Honourable John Baird, Minister of Environment
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