Hello again CCF reader! At the turn of July, we find ourselves in the wake of Israel's bombing of Iran and the closing of the G7. In this newsletter you will find analysis on the Canadian military's response to escalation in the Middle East and the Pacific, and calls for peace and demilitarization. These include a few remote peace actions over the coming weeks hosted in part by the International Peace Bureau and World Beyond War — see the last section of the newsletter for more information. 

Questions or comments? Be in touch at georgiajinkelly@uvic.ca. 

The Pacific Peace Network (PPN) warmly invites peace advocates, civil society leaders, academics, and concerned citizens to attend the Pacific Peace Conference, taking place in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday, 2 August 2025. This full-day event, hosted in a hybrid format, welcomes both physical and virtual participation and offers a unique opportunity to engage in dialogue, solidarity, and strategic planning for peace and justice across the Pacific region.

Published: June 28, 2025
Written by: Kristina Kukolja

Australia has long been at the forefront of global efforts towards the containment of nuclear threats. Now, in the wake of the American military strikes on Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency says the global nonproliferation system is on the brink of collapse. Australian campaigners are calling on the government to step up its advocacy for nuclear disarmament.

Published: June 25, 2025
Written by: Erika Simpson

Mark Carney’s pledge to meet NATO’s new spending target risks defining Canada’s future by bombs and budgets rather than by peacebuilding and principle.

Published: June 28, 2025
Written by: THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

The commander of U.S. Forces Japan said the recent decision by the Self-Defense Forces to establish a joint operations command was a “historic development” that would be matched by greater coordination on the part of the U.S. military.

At a time of rising costs of living, climate stress, and overstretched public services, diverting tens of billions to a flawed and provocative weapons system would be irresponsible. Canada’s defence investments must be effective, accountable, and aligned with our national interest.

America’s view of China as a “pacing threat” has shaped its defence priorities as the military seeks to maintain an edge over a rapidly modernising PLA. In the first of a three-part series on how US budget tensions will affect efforts to deter China, we look at the Golden Dome missile defence system.

Published: June 25, 2025

OTTAWA, ON – We are concerned about the deepening humanitarian crisis in Palestine, the disregard for international law by the State of Israel, and the legal risk that Canada faces in failing to act in the face of crimes against humanity.

The past two weeks have seen dramatic and disturbing escalations of Israel/US acts of aggression in the Middle East at the same time that NATO announces huge increases in military expenditures.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has issued a report naming several US giants among companies aiding Israel‘s occupation and war on Gaza. Companies from other countries – from China to Mexico – are also named.

Former MP Han Dong has settled his defamation lawsuit against Global News, according to a statement posted to the news organization's website, closing a two-year legal battle that came after the outlet published an article alleging he advised a Chinese diplomat to hold off on freeing two Canadians who were detained in China at the time.

Published: June 26, 2025

Forty-three years ago this month, Vincent Chin, a Detroit area Chinese American, was beaten to death with a baseball bat. Hiskilling and subsequent court proceedings marked the beginning of the modern Asian American civil rights movement nationwide.

What do a B.C. Supreme Court petition against the University of British Columbia, the arrest of journalists covering Indigenous land defenders and the punishment of students who speak out against potential genocide in Palestine all have in common?

The latest Sino-American “handshake”—a 90-day pause on tariffs, semiconductor export bans, and rare-earth chokeholds agreed in Geneva and revived in London this month—was never meant as a love-in. It is a grudging ceasefire, a chance for each superpower to breathe, re-stock, and, above all, rewrite the operating manual of twenty-first-century techno-commerce. The United States plainly hopes the pause will buy time for fresh sanctions should Beijing misbehave. China, if it chooses, can reach for something more ambitious: authorship of the very rules that govern the next decade of chips, magnets, and green technology.

Published: June 25, 2025
Written by: Thomas Liu

As the annual G7 summit convenes once again, this time clouded by the early departure of Donald Trump and the lack of a unified joint communique, it is hard not to notice how the once-dominant club of Western industrial powers has descended into structural confusion, strategic ambiguity, and — perhaps worst of all — symbolic irrelevance. The G7 is no longer what it once claimed to be: a steering committee of the free world. Today, it is fast becoming a ritualized gathering of states struggling to define what they still share, what they can still do together, and why they matter.

Published: June 2-4, 2025
Featured scholars: Bill Carroll, Herman Rosenfeld, Priya Gupta
Co-sponsored: Socialist Project and Canada-China Focus

Capitalism Today: Four Vectors of Crisis – recorded at the Society for Socialist Studies conference in Toronto.

Date: Saturday, 2 August 2025
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (AEST)
Venue: Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union, 106 Victoria Street, West End, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Format: Hybrid (in-person and via Zoom)
Organiser Contact: ppnpacificpeace@gmail.com

The Pacific Peace Network (PPN) warmly invites peace advocates, civil society leaders, academics, and concerned citizens to attend the Pacific Peace Conference, taking place in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday, 2 August 2025. This full-day event, hosted in a hybrid format, welcomes both physical and virtual participation and offers a unique opportunity to engage in dialogue, solidarity, and strategic planning for peace and justice across the Pacific region.

The Fourth Annual 24-Hour Peace Wave is coming on July 12, 2025.

Contact us to participate.

The peace wave is a 24-hour-long Zoom featuring live peace actions in the streets and squares of the world, moving around the globe with the sun. The peace wave visits dozens of locations around the globe and includes rallies, concerts, production of artworks, blood drives, installation of peace poles, dances, speeches, and public demonstrations of all variety.

July 14, 2025

How It Works:
Register for the online "actionar" on July 14 to take coordinated online action together.
In this “actionar-style” event on Zoom, we’ll take coordinated action together to simultaneously post on social media and submit letters to the editor to local newspapers to amplify the #CloseBases message worldwide. We’ll provide you with templates and assistance in real time to take action together. The day of action is timed with World BEYOND War’s release of a new global report on the impact of military bases worldwide.

JNIC Vancouver invites you to gather at the Vancouver Japanese Language School for the screening and live stream of the Q&A! Hosted by Mariko and Miki, with MC Mari Miyamoto, this collaboration event will feature special guests Sachi (hibakusha) and Charles Rummel. 

Venue: Vancouver Japanese Language School, 487 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC

Registration: Click here! This event is free to attend, but a suggested donation of $10 is welcome! To register to join virtually, click here. 

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