Date

1998 May 21-29

Source

General Synod. Minutes

Type

Act 82

Mover

Mrs. P. Creighton

Seconder

Dr. G. Egerton

Text of motion

That this General Synod, in light of the appeal made by the Primate and other church leaders in February 1998 to the government to bring new commitment to "the challenge to rid the world of the plans and the means to nuclear annihilation", support their leaders' call to the Canadian government to:

-affirm abolition as the central goal of Canadian nuclear weapons policy;

-urge all states to begin immediately and conclude by the year 2000, a Convention for eliminating nuclear weapons within a time-bound framework;

-urge all nuclear weapons states to take their nuclear forces off alert status and commit themselves to no-first-use of nuclear weapons;

-renounce any role for nuclear weapons in Canadian defense policy, and call on other countries, including Russia and Canada's NATO allies, to do likewise;

-review the legality of Canada's nuclear weapons-related activities in light of the 1996 International Court of Justice ruling, and then move quickly to end all activities determined to be of questionable legality; and

-embrace publicly, the conclusions of the 1996 Canberra Commission report, including its recommendations that the nuclear weapons states commit themselves unequivocally to the elimination of nuclear weapons and agree to work immediately on the practical steps and negotiations for its achievement, and that the non-nuclear states join in cooperative international action to implement this commitment;

-and that this General Synod commend the church leaders' statement to dioceses and parishes, and urge Anglicans to engage themselves in the mounting public efforts to achieve these steps toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and, in particular, the initiatives of Project Ploughshares. CARRIED Act 82

Notes

Abstentions were noted from Chancellor David Wright, Captain Baxter Park, Captain Todd Meaker, Mr. Bryan Campbell and Canon Andrew Gates.

Subjects

Nuclear weapons - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada

Disarmament - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada

Nuclear disarmament - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada

Nuclear warfare - Religious aspects - Anglican Church of Canada

Project Ploughshares

Less detail