By Dean Dettloff, Research and Advocacy Officer
As we prepare to take our Turn Debt into Hope campaign to the G7, we also recall the leadership of Pope Francis, who remained a voice for justice and peace right to the end. On December 26, 2024, the day after last Christmas, Pope Francis concluded his homily encouraging everyone to support the campaign in light of the Jubilee year.
Since then, the campaign has taken off around the world, with people collecting signatures on a petition calling for debt justice. With over 10,000 signatures in Canada alone, we have joined people everywhere to make it known that we expect to see progress on debt justice in this Jubilee Year.
Why the G7 summit matters to the campaign
Global debt is complicated, and so is trying to convince politicians and creditors to act now to end the debt crisis in the Global South. Globally, churches, movements and civil society organizations have been strategizing to identify key moments and opportunities to deliver our petition to decision-makers throughout the year. One of those moments is the G7 summit that will happen right here in Canada.
From June 15 to 17, leaders of the Group of Seven, or G7 countries―Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States―will meet in Kananaskis, Alta., just outside of Calgary. The European Union will also be represented at the summit. G7 summits are technically informal, outside of the official multilateral space of the United Nations. However, discussions among G7 nations can have significant impacts since these countries are wealthy and influential. This year, it is Canada’s turn to host the G7, meaning Canada gets to set the agenda for what participating countries will discuss.
At Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada, we are working hard with our partners in and outside of Canada to make sure debt justice and the Jubilee are on that agenda.
C7: the G7’s civil society conscience
Since the G7 countries discuss a wide range of issues, many interested organizations want to get their attention. There are seven official “engagement groups,” each of which provide recommendations to the G7. One of those groups is the Civil 7 or C7, which represents civil society organizations around the world.
With KAIROS, the Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology, and others, we participated in the C7 to ensure that items in the global Turn Debt into Hope campaign petition are included in communications to G7 leaders. From April14 to 15, the C7 held its own summit in Ottawa. We were there to discuss key issues and deliver the C7’s recommendations to the G7.
We succeeded in making the Jubilee demands around debt a significant component of the official C7 communique delivered to G7 leaders. Debt became such an important part of our discussions that the C7 also released a policy paper on the topic, including input from Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada.
Notably, it is not only civil society that is raising alarms about the debt crisis. Labour 7, representing the perspective of the labour movement, also highlighted the Jubilee campaign in their statement to the G7. With such a strong expression of support for debt justice, we are hopeful that the Canadian government will agree with the need to raise this issue among countries gathered in Kananaskis.
Advocacy beyond the G7
In addition to directly appealing to the G7 through the C7, we have worked with partners to continue making our campaign visible to the Canadian government. In February, organizations involved with the Jubilee in Canada wrote a letter to the finance minister explaining our campaign. Now that the elections have passed, we look forward to continuing our engagement with the government, especially ahead of the G7. We have already started by sending another letter on May 8, 2025, to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
On May 5, 2025, we published an op-ed co-written by Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada and KAIROS in The Hill Times, outlining the Jubilee and pointing to Canadian leadership at the G7. The Hill Times is widely read by government officials and staff, along with others in civil society, and we expect our op-ed to find its way into discussions as parliamentarians begin to journey to Ottawa.
People’s Forum
In addition to all of our pre-G7 advocacy, we will join Canadian and global partners on the ground in Calgary just ahead of the G7 summit for a Jubilee People’s Forum (June 12-15). At the forum, we will amplify the voices of people in the Global South, visit a medicine wheel on Stoney Nakoda land, and build our capacity to continue raising the Jubilee banner throughout 2025.
Members are welcome to make the trek to Calgary by registering here. Diocesan councils are encouraged to support members who wish to travel to the forum, provided they have funds to do so.
Passing the baton in a global campaign
The G7 is the first of several opportunities for our global campaign to reach decision-makers around the world. Shortly after, government representatives will gather in Seville, Spain, for the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (June 30 to July 3), organized by the United Nations. They will discuss the international finance system and how to effectively deliver funding to nations that need it for development and dealing with climate change. Attention will then turn to the COP30 in Belém, Brazil (November 10-21) and the meeting of G20 countries in Johannesburg, South Africa (November 22-23).
At each of these events, representatives from our international partners working for debt justice in this Jubilee year will bring forward the demands of our global petition. We will continue to engage officials who represent Canada at these meetings, making sure they know that Canadians want to see our country become a voice for human dignity, debt relief and international cooperation in a time of geopolitical uncertainty.
Sign the petition!
Share Lent might be over, but the need to gather signatures on our petition continues. Whenever we meet decision-makers, we are proud to share the increasing number of signatures on our petition. It shows creditors and politicians that Canadians expect them to be bold on debt cancellation, structural reform and upholding multilateral engagement in this Jubilee year. The more people sign our petition, the stronger our case is for getting debt on the agenda. It is one thing for leaders to see that church officials, NGOs, experts and social movements want change, but the voice of the people is always the most significant.
So, present the petition in your parish if you have not done so already. You can find resources, including a short talk to give after Mass, on our website. Has your parish already signed the petition? Find a neighboring parish and ask the priest if you could introduce the petition there. All out of parishes? Look for a school, community group or friends who care about social justice and ask them sign and distribute the petition. Get creative!
We have one more month to gather signatures before the G7 meets in Alberta on June 15. Let’s meet them with an even longer list of supporters when they get there.
