The Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology

Advocacy

JOIN US: Lobby Days with MPs in Ottawa and in your local ridings

Filed Under: Activities, Advocacy, Take Action, Uncategorised

Connecting the dots between the debt crisis, the climate emergency, cuts to foreign aid and an unjust financial system, ORCIE is calling for Canada to fund our fair share to confront the climate crisis.

Will you join us for our upcoming Lobby Day September 25th, 2025 in Ottawa? Our Learning & Lobbying process prepares small teams of members of religious congregations to meet with Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, MPs and Members of Standing Committees on Parliament Hill.

Details on our Learning & Lobbying Days:

  • September 20 (Sat): Global Climate Strike, locally across Canada
  • September 23 (Tue): ORCIE Learning Session, virtual
  • September 24 (Wed) : ORCIE Preparation for meetings, Ottawa
  • September 25 (Thurs): ORCIE Lobby Day on the Hill, Ottawa
  • September 29- 30 (Mon-Tues): Meet your MP at local offices
  • October 13-17 (Mon-Fri): Meet your MP at local offices
Prep day with the ORCIE members

Religious are invited to join us in Ottawa for September 24-25, or to work together locally to meet MPs in their riding. For more information and to express your interest please contact Sasquia or Genevieve so we can prepare for your participation.

ORCIE Endorses Open Letter by Faith Organizations in Support of Preserving El Salvador’s Historic Ban on Metals Mining

Filed Under: Activities, Advocacy, News, Take Action

The Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology (ORCIE) is pleased to share that we have officially endorsed the Open Letter by Faith Organizations in Support of Preserving El Salvador’s Historic Ban on Metals Mining. This collective statement urges governments to uphold the decision of the people of El Salvador and their church institutions to protect their land, water, and communities from the devastating impacts of metallic mining.

We, the undersigned, from a diversity of church structures(representing local, regional, and national expressions of churches and related agencies),express our steadfast support for the people of El Salvador and their religious institutions and leaders who are struggling to maintain their country’s historic ban on metal mining –in place from 2017 to 2024 — so all Salvadorans can enjoy their God-given right to clean water.  We stand in solidarity with civic and religious leaders who are being persecuted and imprisoned for working against injustices, including the devastation that metals mining would cause their communities…”

We encourage our members to join us in this important initiative by signing on behalf of your congregation. Adding your voice amplifies the call from people of faith who are advocating for ecological justice and the defense of communities most at risk.

📅 Deadline to sign: September 1, 2025

👉 Read and sign the open letter here

Together, our collective witness can amplify the moral voice of the people of El Salvador in their call for justice and the care for creation.

The Fair Share Platform for Global Climate Equity

Filed Under: Advocacy, Take Action

ORCIE has joined organizations from across Canadian civil society to call upon the government of Canada to fulfill our fair share of the global effort to confront the climate crisis.

Canada cannot take on the climate crisis alone. As one of the world’s top polluters and wealthiest countries, we must do our fair share globally, not just at home. As the 30th annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) approaches, Prime Minister Carney has a generational opportunity and responsibility to lead boldly on climate justice, economic transformation, and international solidarity.

Why this matters

The climate emergency was created and is accelerated by a deeply unjust global economic system that is unfairly distorted against Indigenous communities and the Global South. The time has come to reckon with Canada’s role in the international community. Canada can show leadership in supporting energy transitions around the world. We can also help transform unfair systems that have become barriers to climate action.

Doing our fair share means building a new package of support to the international community from the Canadian government – rooted in justice and led by social movements.

  1. Triple Canada’s climate finance to support the Global South with grants, not loans.
  2. Cancel unjust Global South debt and free billions for climate solutions.
  3. Make big polluters and the ultra-rich pay their fair share. 
  4. End trade rules that undermine climate action. 

Individuals are encouraged to sign the petition to send these demands to the Prime Minister and key cabinet ministers.

Religious congregations are invited to sign on as an organization and can do so through this form.

Read the full platform for a detailed breakdown of how Canada can do its part in the global climate fight. The Platform is a living document that is growing and evolving as our Fair Share movement expands.

ORCIE at the G7 Jubilee People’s Forum: Connecting the Dots on Debt Cancellation and Climate Justice

Filed Under: Advocacy, Communications, Media, News, Take Action

From July 12–15, ORCIE was proud to join voices from across the globe at the G7 Jubilee People’s Forum in Calgary, where Chair of the Board Sue Wilson and Executive Director Genevieve Gallant represented our shared commitment to integral ecology and economic justice.

Held in the days leading up to the G7 Summit in Alberta, the Jubilee Peoples’ Forum in Calgary brought together people from across Canada to explore how debt cancellation, financial system reform, development issues, climate change, and ecological debt are deeply connected—and why, as Sue Wilson reflects, these challenges must be addressed concurrently.

ORCIE, along with KAIROS, Development and Peace – Caritas Canada, Citizens for Public Justice, and the Canadian Council of Churches came together at the Jubilee People’s Forum to deepen our understanding of the interconnectedness of global debt, ecological harm, climate justice, and systemic inequality.

“Who Owes Whom?”: Understanding the Debt Trap

As Development and Peace vice-president Tashia Toupin aptly put it, the issue of debt can feel overwhelming—politically, economically, culturally, and ideologically. Yet the Forum helped to demystify these dynamics, showing how unjust debt, particularly in the Global South, is both a result of and contributor to structural inequality. ORCIE Chair Sue Wilson helped unpack these complex relationships through a lens of integral ecology.

“At the rally, a bystander came up to me and said, ‘Your group is concerned about a lot of issues.’ I looked at the signs the people around me were holding: Turn Debt into Hope. Climate Justice. Reform the Financial System. People before Profit. Who owes whom? Where he saw different issues, I saw the multifaceted and interconnected aspects of the Jubilee Debt Campaign.” — Sue Wilson, CSJ

Sue emphasized how unsustainable debt in the Global South is often driven by:

  • Global economic shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine;
  • Predatory lending practices by private financial institutions;
  • International systems that force countries to prioritize debt repayments over development;
  • Lack of global rules on responsible borrowing and lending.

Debt cancellation, then, is not charity. It’s a form of justice—especially when viewed through the lens of ecological debt, the concept that the Global North countries, including Canada, owes a climate and resource debt to the South and Indigenous communities due to centuries of exploitation and emissions.

“This is not charity, but a commitment made in the 2015 Paris Agreement which states that countries must fund global climate actions according to their responsibility for the climate crisis and their ability to pay. Countries like Canada (wealthy, large historic climate polluter, and a key producer of crude oil and gas) must contribute our fair share towards addressing the impacts of climate change in the Global South (Canada’s Fair Share Platform).”
— Sue Wilson, CSJ

Read Sue’s full analysis here: Connecting the Dots: Jubilee People’s Forum and The Debt Cancellation Campaign | Sue Wilson

Let us continue connecting the dots—between faith, finance, and the future—and transforming systems that exploit into systems that heal.

Spring Advocacy

Filed Under: Advocacy, Communications

As part of our work on the Jubilee 2025 Turn Debt Into Hope campaign, ORCIE-BCRÉI sent a letter to the Honourable Dominic Leblanc in February, during his short time as Finance Minister, as well as a letter to PM Mark Carney when he became the newly elected leader of the Liberals in March. These moments may seem like flashes in a pan (was this only a few months ago?) but they are part of setting the stage for in person meetings and keeps the urgent issue of debt cancellation and climate justice front and centre.

On the issue of climate finance and ecological debt, staff from ORCIE-BCRÉI and other Jubilee 2025 organizations met with Associate Assistant Deputy Minister Steven Kuhn from Finance Canada and a few other Directors as they were preparing for the 4th International Conference on Finance for Development https://financing.desa.un.org/ffd4. They were very encouraged by the conversation about both financial debt and ecological debt as Canada prepares for G7, G20 and COP30.

Laudato Si 10th Anniversary

For the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si, KAIROS is inviting people to visit the new ORCIE website to learn about what Religious in the Global South have to say about the intersections of ecological debt, colonialism, and the responsibilities we hold to respond with reparations. 

ORCIE-BCRÉI’s very own Darlene O’Leary—Coordinator of the Martha Justice Ministry with the Sisters of St. Martha in Antigonish—explores the enduring wisdom and prophetic urgency of Pope Francis’ encyclical. She draws out its core message of integral ecology, showing how its vision of interconnectedness deepens and strengthens our pursuit of economic justice—especially in this year of Jubilee. 

Resources

Excellent article from Broadbent Institute Perspectives This Time It Is Worse: Political Economy of the Current International Debt Crisis with historical context on the debt crisis and is pointing to some of the solutions that align with the Jubilee campaign, including the Bridgetown Initiative.