Thank you to all our donors and volunteers for your continued support throughout 2021. What follows is a brief update of our activities and a forecast for 2022.
The Government of Canada continues to discriminate against people who self-identify as vegan. After careful consideration, we have decided to bring a lawsuit against the CFIA and our government for dictating what the word vegan means as opposed to working with the vegan community as they did in the case of kosher and halal.
We are continuously trying to grow our legal department; if you would like to be involved in this or want to donate to support this initiative, let us know.
We are overjoyed with the success of this program. As you may have noticed, for over a year now most of the cover pieces for our articles have been done by our resident artist. Vegan art is an emerging discipline allowing us to reach a wider audience, and it clearly shows that everyone is welcome in the achievement of our vision. Whatever your interests and skills are, we will find a way for you to contribute toward the achievement of our vision.
Similar refrain from our government who continuously discriminates against people who self-identify as vegan. Our government would like us to believe that ending the exploitation of human animals is a valid charitable purpose, but as soon as we try to benefit all animals everything falls apart. Of course we disagree, and we have found a law firm to represent us in our case against the government when we have raised sufficient funds.
We encourage everyone to contact us to help shape the future of veganism. We believe our new artist residency program highlights that there will always be a place for anyone who wants to make a difference. If you don’t see a role that interests you on our list, please contact us and we will work together to find something suitable.
While every member of the Vegan World Alliance (VWA) had originally agreed to our vision, many acted in ways that were not concordant with this vision. Just like politicians are not leaders but simply a mirror of society, so too are organizations that self-identify as vegan a mirror of the community they represent.
Recent surveys have shown that 30.8% of people who self-identify as vegans would be likely or somewhat likely to eat animals, and it is statistically probable that some of those people end up in organizations that self-identify as vegan. There are also a lot of people who self-identify as vegans who simply support products and services that free cows but enslave human animals, and statistically it is also probable that they end up in organizations that self-identify as vegan.
We have a strong commitment to our vision, and over the years we have seen the many ways veganism is practiced, sometimes in conflict with our vision. We will always encourage human animals, whether they self-identify as vegan or not, to act in accordance with our vision. However, we thought it was misleading to state the VWA shares our vision when the majority of members were not willing to act in accordance with it.
In light of all this, the VWA changed to a United Nations-like model that recognizes the many ways in which veganism is practiced with a more straightforward vision of cooperation. We have no doubt that it is the intention of all members of the VWA to at least reduce harm to some animals, and we will always encourage them and everyone else to do more so we can achieve our vision.
It is a new chapter for the VWA, and we are looking forward to seeing what it will bring.
This was once again a difficult year for animals as human animals focused on COVID-19, and many governments and organizations globally used the fog of the pandemic to sweep under the rug various actions that increased the exploitation of animals.
We took some unprecedented steps this year to make our vision clear. Our vision is not to move exploitation around from one species of animals to another. We believe in science and that humans are animals, and our vision is to end the exploitation of animals, all of them. The years ahead will be challenging; depending on which road our species takes, our vision may be under serious threat.
As a charitable organization, we depend on the generosity of others for our existence. If there are things that we are not doing but should be doing that align with our vision and charitable purpose, consider joining us to make it happen.
We want to again thank all our donors and volunteers for their generous support, and we invite everyone who shares our vision to join us. The exact details of our 2022 projects will be dependent on the interests of our volunteers and supporters. We look forward to working with you.
