October, 2009, Mondial, Journal of the World Federalists (Canada)

By Patricia Philip

Campaigning for a Department of Peace

Little media attention has been

given to the Harper government’s

massive rebuilding of the Canadian

military, outlined in its

Canada First Defence Strategy,

which will allocate $490 billion to

military spending over the next

20 years.

That’s the message delivered

by well-known author and journalist

Linda McQuaig to the

national annual general meeting

of the Canadian Department of

Peace Initiative (CDPI), April

17–19 in Hamilton, Ontario.

In her keynote address, After

Afghanistan: Reinvigorating

Canada’s Role as a Global Peacebuilder,

Ms. McQuaig presented

a chronology of events and facts

to demonstrate just how far Canada’s

government has moved in

recent years from being a world

leader in global peacekeeping to

a nation that has bought into the

U.S. doctrine of war.

The conference, with its theme

this year of Building a Culture of

Peace in Canada and the World,

attracted 40 participants, including

several from the Quebec

Chapter of CDPI, Citoyennes

pour un Ministère de la Paix

(CMP). The CDPI is a federation

of chapters, each having local

autonomy within the framework

of the agreed-upon goal of promoting

a Canadian Department

of Peace.

The conference featured status

reports on various CDPI projects

under way for the past year. An

important session brought delegates

into conversation with MPs

from all political parties (except

Conservatives) on the theme of

Building a Culture of Peace in

Canada and the World. We also

heard from the current initiative

for a Hamilton Culture of Peace

Commission. There is strong

interest at Hamilton’s City Hall

in working actively with peacerelated

groups.

Participants considered CDPI’s

strategic planning and action

plan for 2009-10. While the longterm

goal remains the establishment

of a full Department of

Peace, an interim step will be to

lobby for the creation of a secretary

of state or junior minister

for peacebuilding and conflict

prevention at the federal level.

The conference heard encouraging

news from each region of

Canada that inroads are being

made. Plans are under way to

set up a CDPI branch in Halifax.

One of the biggest challenges is

to engage and increase youth

participation by developing

peacebuilding as a professional

career path. More outreach initiatives

need to focus on electronic

communications as a way of

getting out the message.

Patricia Philip is a member of

the Executive of WFMC Montreal Branch