The CCCB's Social Affairs Commission. (Updates).

In Ottawa, the CCCB's Social Affairs Commission is involved in a whirlwind of activity on social and economic affairs. In January it published a background paper examining free trade issues calling for a re-write of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Assoc.,). Archbishop Brendan O'Brien of St. John's, Nfld., then headed a five-bishop delegation to Washington, D.C., on the Global Economy. Three weeks later, in February, Archbishop O'Brien headed a six-member Canadian team for the Church in America held in San Salvador, Brazil, again discussing economic affairs. In March the Social Affairs Commission issued a letter to Mr. Romanow who is pondering the future of Canada's health care, following up on contacts with Members of Parliament in 2001. A four-bishop delegation (Blanchet, Henry, Tonnos, and Lakey), met on Parliament Hill to develop a strategy on health care policies. In April the canadian bishops asked the government not in invest in Talisman Energy Co., which has oil fields in Sudan. Also, in April, the ne wly formed Kairos, Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, of which the CCCB is a member, met to plan action for the meeting of international leaders in Kananaskis, AB, in June, to discuss the global economy. Kairos demands the unconditional cancellation of bilateral and multilateral debts of the world's poorest countries and an end to Structural Adjustment Programmes, among other things. The group will take part in protests in Ottawa during the summit. The CCODP (Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace), will hold a summit in Montreal in mid-June, expecting 170 delegates. In June, the CCCB will release a pastoral statement for the G-8 leaders and Canadian citizens in general.