Human Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the opportunity to speak to this bill today. The notice from the clerk said we'd have 10 minutes, but we'll do our best to get down to seven. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is the national association of evangelical C

Human Resources committee  Thanks. I'm skipping as many words as I can on the fly as well, I can assure you. Although the EFC has a number of affiliates that are engaged in the development and provision of housing for a range of persons in need of affordable housing, this joint submission with StreetLeve

Human Resources committee  The EFC endorses and supports this purpose. We say “church and government” because each has a unique responsibility and role to play in meeting the needs of vulnerable Canadians. These roles are so critical that the failure of either to fulfill that role and responsibility will m

Human Resources committee  Historically, affordable housing has received funding from all levels of government as well as the efforts of charitable and not-for-profit organizations, many of them faith-based. However, it has become clear that there is a greater need for the federal government to accept the

Human Resources committee  The church is uniquely equipped and positioned to work with government in coming alongside in developing a strategy, just as we have come alongside in providing community with and for those who most benefit from affordable housing--more than a house, a home. Poverty and homeles

Human Resources committee  The role of faith-based groups is vital from a number of perspectives. First, we actually already have a history of working with all three levels of government in developing several levels of housing, from shelters to transitional housing to permanent affordable housing. Second,

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and the committee for the invitation to inform your deliberations. Although I am vice-president and general legal counsel with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, as the chair has noted, I'm appearing today in my capacity as chair of the EFC's religious l

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There are two churches that were destroyed in Cairo that have been rebuilt by the army. However, the Church of St. George in Merinab in Aswan province, which was destroyed by a mob of just over 1,000 people following completion of government-approved renovations, has not been reb

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That was destroyed in September.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Very shortly after, a representative from the military government attended in the province and was standing beside a Sufi when he made the announcement. Then the military left. Nothing has taken place since then.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That was in the Cave Church in Garbage City in Cairo. It's a suburb of Cairo. The Cave Church is literally a cave hollowed out of the rock and from the main platform, or the elevated portion of the church building, there's no back wall and it just proceeds up a hill. That was a r

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That took place on November 11 of this year.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  At that gathering there were no signs of violence or protest. It was prayer, it was singing, it was worship. There was an unscripted ten-minute moment when the crowd was chanting across.... It's unusual for the Copts, the Catholics, the Evangelicals, and the Protestants to gather

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  To my knowledge there was no security provided and the military wasn't present, but who knows who was in the crowd?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's a good question, because to my knowledge Christians have not contributed to the violence. As I think I mentioned, the church in Tahrir Square, one of the main churches, was open to act as an infirmary over these last five days of rioting that took place. Doctors were house