Fonds F3696 - John Foster Fonds

John W. Foster (1942-) was Vice-President of the National YPU, a field worker for Kairos, Staff Officer for the DMC, and founder of the Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America and Gatt-fly. He was born and raised in Saskatchewan. In 1977 he received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Toronto with a thesis on Canadian missions in China. He first got involved with YPU at a congregational level at the Grace United in Saskatchewan in 1958. He then joined the presbytery and conference levels until being elected as National Vice-President in 1963 and confirmed as President in 1965. In 1964 he was appointed a Kairos field worker. He started work at the DMC in 1970 as a special assistant for research and coalitions for social justice. He worked for the DMC until 1989, predominantly in the area of economy and poverty for the following committees and coalitions: Committee on International Affairs, Working Unit on Social Issue and Justice, National Working Group on the Economy and Poverty, Issue, TCCR, and Coalition against Free Trade. He was also involved with issues on energy and the environment as well as homosexuality and the church.