Social Justice Team
If you’re interested in joining our Social Justice Team, please contact Elain Duvall or the Church Office.
Loving Justice
The Canadian Unitarian Council’s August 15th eNews included an article from the Loving Justice Team about the death of Dani/Maiken Cooper. See the full article HERE.
The article said, in part, “Because of [Maiken/Dani’s] call toward radical love, and because of their murder, a small group of individuals has formed a team called Loving Justice. Our goal is to promote and advance critical conversations about the role of police in our society . . . We challenge the intersecting forms of oppression Maiken faced during their life, with attention to the experiences of the trans+ (transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary) community, criminalized drug users, those living in poverty, and those living with mental illness.” Learn more by reading the full article.
Help get justice for Dani Cooper
Video intro (13 minutes, as of March 10, 2023)
On the night of November 12, 2022 Dani Cooper, a young member of our congregation, was killed by the North Vancouver RCMP. Dani’s family and friends are looking for answers about what happened that night and why five officers were not able to use non-lethal methods to subdue a petite, 5-foot, 90-pound individual. Dani’s family has still not been given a detailed account of what happened that night and they have not been given Dani’s personal possessions.
Friends of Dani formed a group called Justice for DeeCee and they have drafted a letter to the Attorney General of BC, the Premier of BC, the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, the North Vancouver RCMP, the City and District of North Vancouver Mayors and Councils, the North Vancouver MP and the North Vancouver MLA.
The family and friends of Dani are asking Unitarians and their friends to write a letter on the 12th of each month as a way to raise awareness of this tragedy and suggest changes that could lessen the chance of future similar tragedies.
You can write your own letter or use one of the following template letters below. (Copy the template letter, paste the contents into your email program, and add your name and city at the end of the letter).
Send your letter to these email addresses: AG.Minister@gov.bc.ca, susie.chant.MLA@leg.bc.ca, premier@gov.bc.ca, PSSG.Minister@gov.bc.ca, nvanrcmp@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
CityCouncil@cnv.org, mayor@cnv.org, council@dnv.org, mayor@dnv.org, jonathan.wilkinson@parl.gc.ca, Bowinn.Ma.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Additional Information:
Transforming Policing and Community Safety in British Columbia
The BC Government struck a committee in 2022 to review the BC Police Act, and made its recommendations.
The Provincial Safety Minister's response to the BC Police Act report.
Introducing legislation to address racial inequities in the Justice System
The federal Justice Minister is vowing to introduce legislation to address racial inequities in the Justice System. Learn more.
Help Dismantle Systemic Racism
Support these initiatives to dismantle systemic racism in the Canadian Justice system by writing letters - JEDIs templates available.
Racism still exists in North Shore Housing:
A Call for Change
Please look at your land title and see if you too continue to have these discriminatory covenants on yours. More info in this North Shore News article.
Sign a West Vancouver Petition to ban this racist practice.
FREE bystander training
Right To Be offers free on-line training to the public, to empower people like you to take simple, creative, and effective action to intervene and respond when you witness or experience harassment. Register for one of their regular trainings to learn how to become a more effective ally to people who are marginalized.
More info.