Food insecurity is a major issue around the world, and made worse by conflicts and natural disasters. The Mennonite Central Committee is an organization that provides relief for people impacted by these disasters. Part of that work is to send canned meat. To this end, the organization has opted to open a commercial grade meat cannery in New Hamburg with the aim to produce 50,000 cans, or about 90,000 pounds of meat in its first year.
Radio Waterloo spoke with Michelle Brenneman, the Executive Director of MCC Ontario as well as volunteer Doug Wagner to hear more about the new cannery and what will be involved with its operation.
In response to Israel’s allegations that 12 employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) approximately 30,000 workers were involved in the attacks on Israelis on October 7th 2023, Canada immediately announced they would end funding to the agency. Canadian officials have since admitted to CBC News that Canada has not seen any of the evidence for the claim. Additionally, Global Affairs did not respond to requests from CKMS News to explain the decision making process for cutting funds to the largest aid agency in Palestine even as Médecins Sans Frontières says the “humanitarian crisis has reached catastrophic levels” for millions of Palestinians.
This show features an Interview with Laurel Russwurm, an Elmira resident who authored a petition on ourcommons.ca calling for Canada to reinstate funding to UNRWA, and Kitchener Center Green Party MP Mike Morrice who supports immediately reinstating funding to the humanitarian agency.
