Mennonite Central Committee

Take Action

1. Learn about the realities of militarism in Canada. See Resources section. Engage friends, family, and co-workers in dialogue on this topic. Raise this topic in your church context.
2. Find out about military recruitment at your local high school or at places where youth gather. What are young people being told? Encourage people young and old to discuss these issues and think about their responses.
3. Learn about military industry in your community. What is being produced, where is it going, and what is it being used for? Contact the companies involved in military production and let them know your concerns.

4. Learn about conscientious objection and about Canadians who have declared themselves as conscientious objectors. Join MCCC’s Conscientious Objector Registry by making a written statement on your views on war.

   Conscientious Objection in Canada

5. Write the Prime Minister and your Member of Parliament, urging Canada to advance global security through non-military means such as dialogue and diplomacy, increased foreign aid, just trade relationships, and adherence to international law.
6. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper calling for non-military approaches to the problem of insecurity in Canada and the world.

7. Support the work of Project Ploughshares through prayer, advocacy and donations. Join its efforts to bring about tighter restrictions on Canadian military exports, and to build support for an international arms trade treaty to control gun violence and the illicit arms trade.

   Project Ploughshares

8. Plan a form of public witness such as a prayer service or vigil to draw attention to the costs of war.

   Public Witness for Peace: A Toolkit for Christians

9. Consider withholding the military portion of your income tax and filing it with Conscience Canada’s peace trust fund. Join Conscience Canada’s efforts to press the government for legal means to designate income taxes for peaceful purposes.

   Conscience Canada

10. Join the War Resisters Support Campaign in providing moral, legal and financial support to American war resisters who are in Canada because of their resistance to U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    War Resisters Support Campaign

11. Examine your personal or family investments to determine whether you are investing in companies involved in military production or training. Consider investing in funds which place screens on military industry.

12. Support initiatives aimed at bringing socially responsible investment screens to the Canadian Pension Plan.

    Inter Pares

13. Find out about peace groups in your area and get involved!

    Canadian Peace Alliance Directory