On April 26, the Straight ran a news story the efforts of Victoria's Joshua Goldberg and Conscience Canada to withhold taxes that would go to fund the Canadian military.

Conservative Ontario Senator Nancy Ruth is another member of this movement.

Here's what she said at the Senate on May 15, the International Conscientious Objector's Day:

Debates of the Senate (Hansard)

1st Session, 39th Parliament,
Volume 143, Issue 97

Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The Honourable Noí«l A. Kinsella, Speaker

International Conscientious Objectors Day

Hon. Nancy Ruth: I hope all honourable senators had a great Mother's Day and have filed their income tax. The two have a relationship to each other. That is what I wish to talk about.

American Julia Ward Howe, the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, saw some of the worst effects of the Civil War. She worked with widows and orphans on both sides of the war, and she realized that the effects of war go beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. She saw the economic devastation of the Civil War, the economic crises that followed the war and the restructuring of the economies of both the North and South.

In 1870, Julia Ward Howe created an anti-war day that we know as Mother's Day for Peace. She was convinced that, "The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

Today is International Conscientious Objectors Day. Conscientious objectors to physical military service have been recognized in most parts of the world. Conscience Canada, along with other groups, points out that modern wars are hugely dependent on tax monies.

For conscientious objection to be adequately recognized, citizens who object to paying for war must have the means to redirect their war taxes toward non-violent means of peace building. Canada has several historical precedents for recognizing conscientious objection to military taxation, starting with the War of 1812.

Our Charter enshrined freedom of conscience based on secular morality as well as religion. In 1981, Senator Eugene Forsey and six other MPs said:

In times of military conscription, exemption from service in the military can be claimed on grounds of conscience, and alternative service is approved. It should be equally possible to claim exemption from taxes intended for war preparation and a related alternative should be offered.

I am one of those Canadians who, for some years, have withheld from my income tax payment the percentage for the military budget. I have put that money on deposit with a peace tax fund called Conscience Canada.

I encourage honourable senators to do so, too, and to work for the right of Canadians to do three things: to legally and conscientiously object; to pay taxes for peace, instead of the military; and, finally, to support Bill C-348 when it comes to this chamber.

As Julia Ward Howe said, "The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."