In June, I travelled to Calgary to attend two People’s Forum events: the G7 Jubilee People’s Forum organized by Kairos, and a grassroots event hosted by the International Migrants Alliance. These events were planned to align with the meeting of world leaders in Kananaskis.
I attended as a congregate of Holy Spirit and to support and share the social justice work of this congregation. I travelled with Whitney from AWARE, helping to support 3 youth who were sharing their personal experiences with attendees, of living as undocumented children in Alberta, the impact that being denied access to education has had on their lives, and their activism through the Educ4All campaign.
The G7 Jubilee People’s Forum was an interfaith conference “representing hundreds of thousands from around the globe who believe that by uplifting Indigenous voices, Global South voices and the voices of people of faith and conscience… demanding a more equitable, sustainable and humane future.” (Kairos, 2025). The vision of conference organizers is to build, from the ground up, a Jubilee world – “...where enslaved and indentured people are freed, debts are cancelled, and the land is returned and allowed to rest. A world where economic and ecological justice and decolonization are the norm, not the exception.”
The conference began with an interfaith service led by the Calgary Interfaith Council. His Eminence, Pedro Cardinal Barreto from Peru opened the conference. This was followed by voices from a wide variety of faith traditions who shared religious teachings connected to debt, relief and sharing. The evening closed with Langar provided by members of the Sikh community.
Over the weekend we participated in sessions highlighting the social, economic, and cultural costs of “debt” and to envision different models for our future. I was present to hear Yael, Dayana, and Ariana, the undocumented youth from Edmonton who are fighting for access to K-12 education, share their powerful stories during the Migrants and Jubilee session. Throughout the weekend we shared information about the Educa4All campaign and collected signatures for a petition the youth hope will go to the Alberta legislature this fall.
The Jubilee movement calls for mobilizing communities of faith and conscience to demand:
- Debt cancellation
- Global financial reform
- A debt resolution framework within the United Nations
In addition to participating in the Jubilee conference, I met on Saturday with community groups and activists from across Canada engaged in work from tenant rights and labour protection to military disarmament, Indigenous land rights and environment protection. We discussed the challenges people are facing, successes and setbacks in advocacy, strategies for mobilizing action and how groups can engage in greater collaboration.
A few takeaways from the weekend:
- Community activism is formed by, nurtured by, and an extension of faith. While not all social justice work is directly a faith-based activity, it is faith that roots and sustains many people’s activist work. What kind of activists are being raised and nurtured by this congregation?
- Religious spaces are vital for grassroots organizing. They are one of the few spaces where mutual aid rather than economic profit is operating. Religious spaces provide safe refuge. A tablemate, who worked in Hong Kong, shared that the churches have been at the centre of organizing for migrant workers as it is the only space for meeting outside the view of employers and the state. It made me think of the welcome this congregation has given to various community groups, including FAM and Educ4ALL. It made me consider how we as a congregation extend and expand our vision of “all are welcome and all means all.”
- Justice and faith are intertwined and are not exclusive to religious communities.
- The youth are leading the charge in envisioning and demanding a more just world. What are we doing?
- Sometimes the most powerful and scary thing we can do is show up. How will I “show up” today?
I encourage folks to visit the Kairos website to learn more about the Jubilee Movement and to learn more about the Educ4All campaign advocating for access to education, regardless of status as expected of signatures to the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child. I welcome conversations as to how this connects to the social justice work at Holy Spirit and the larger church.
—
Article & Photos by Wanda Chell
