I want to be a Canadian Peace Initiative member, and support initiatives for developing a culture of peace and a department of peace in Canada

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City: Province

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Which local chapter will you join?_______ See Canadian Chapters for locations. We will send you the contact information for the chapter nearest to you.

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I am particularly interested in learning about the following issues such as women & peace, foreign policy, peace education, creating a Chapter, nuclear disarmament, etc.

Please PRINT the completed form & mail your donation to the Canadian Peace Initiative at the address below.

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Memberships are not considered charitable contributions.

Thank you for your generous support.

Mail to : CPI, c/o Saul Arbess,

45 Cambridge St.,

Victoria, BC V8V 4A7

January 2012 Canadian Peace Initiative

Inspiring News and Views www.departmentofpeace.ca

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Department-of-Peace-Initiative/116559845067605

Mere praise of peace is easy, but ineffective. What is needed is active participation in

the fight against war and everything that leads to it.

Albert Einstein

READ THE FULL TEXT

News Release: MP Alex Atamanenko Tables Department of Peace Bill

November 30, 2011 – Ottawa, ON

Alex Atamanenko, MP (BC Southern Interior), was joined at a press conference by fellow peace advocates, along with Elizabeth May of the Green Party and Liberal Jim Karygiannis to herald the introduction of his Private Members Bill to create a federal Department of Peace. May and Karygiannis are co-seconding the Bill.

Atamanenko’s bill is a slightly amended version of retired NDP MP, Bill Siksay’s bill from the last parliament, notable for the non-partisan support it had gathered.

Karygiannis says this is one issue where party politics should not get in the way. “It is time for Canada to serve the global constituency by committing to the creation of a Department of Peace.”

Elizabeth May stressed her party’s continued support of this initiative. “Peace is more than the absence of war. Non-violent solutions, ‘waging peace,’ requires a focused investment and shift in consciousness. Even talking about a Department of Peace helps in that shift,” she said.

Representatives for Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CDPI) at the press conference described the bill as exemplifying a global movement in 30 countries promoting infrastructures of non-violent peace within governments, with Peace Ministries and Departments in three countries, most recently Costa Rica. “The bill illustrates the need to prepare for peace in the same way as we prepare for war – with adequate resources and expertise,” stated CDPI Co-Founder, Bill Bhaneja.

“This is an opportunity to unify the millions of voices expressing a will to follow a new path where our road markers are not fear, anger and vengeful killing but rather prevention, empathy and justice for all of humanity,” declared Theresa Dunn, co-Chair for CDPI.

Doukhobor writer and historian Koozma J. Tarasoff said the need for the architecture for peace is urgent at a time when nuclear and robotic weapons are posing a threat to the world community. “As Canadians, let’s regain our status not only as a peacekeeping nation, but also as a non-killing one.”

“The notion that there can be peace in the world may be a utopian ideal but each generation owes it to the next to make a dedicated attempt to get as close to it as humanly possible.” concluded Atamanenko.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS

Bill C-373 is to be presented for second reading during the 41st Parliament. In preparation, a series of public consultations will be held across Canada during the next few months. They will serve to raise awareness of the bill and also allow for discussion and review of it various components. Comments from participants will be reflected in a report to be given to all Members of Parliament prior to second reading.

Bill C-373 is a comprehensive piece of legislation that will enable Canada to develop a new architecture for peacebuilding both domestically and internationally. It will significantly affect government’s approach to conflict issues and shape a new paradigm for waging peace in our world. It is important that it is understood by Canadian citizens and thoroughly debated in the House of Commons before it is voted on.

Bill C-373 is a visionary document. It is about deliberately building a Culture of Peace. It is about developing and funding nonviolent methods of dealing with conflict. It has the potential to alter how our world is managed. Your perspective and insights are valued. Plan to attend and contribute at these important events. Times, locations and commissioners will be announced when finalized.

Rebranding – Canadian Peace Initiative

The Canadian Department of Peace Initiative has been in existence since 2004. The focus of CDPI has been to bring attention and support to individuals and groups building on the principles of a Culture of Peace as outlined by the UN Manifest in 2000 and to campaign for a Department of Peace in Canada and abroad. The Canadian Department of Peace Initiative brings peace to the forefront, giving voice to the thousands of individuals and organizations seeking for leaders to guide them to a path of peace and social justice.

As of January 1, 2012 the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative is incorporated under the new name of Canadian Peace Initiative. Our mandate remains the same but we believe the new name better reflects the diverse ways peace can be achieved.

It is with your support that we have achieved our many milestones. Thank you for the response we have had from those who have participated in peace events, written articles or letters to editors, written or spoken to their Member of Parliament and provided many other forms of support. These actions have brought us to the successes that we are currently experiencing.

As CDPI evolves so do our needs. Understanding that these efforts to encourage a cultural shift in the Canadian society are only a beginning, we have pondered how we all could build on these efforts and engage more members in the public voice for change. We recognize a need to build a more comprehensive professional communication system to reach out to the public and the need to become a more prominent and integral part of the national discourse to succeed in our lobbying for the goals of peace.

If we are to enlarge our presence on the Canadian political scene it will require more resources both in the number of supporters we engage and in financial resources. Please support your local chapter by volunteering at special events and by renewing your membership with them. Memberships are only $ 10.00 per year and every penny is spent working for peace. Thank you for consideration.

Canadian Voice of Women for Peace Lobby in Ottawa

The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) held their 51st AGM in Ottawa this past November. One focus of the AGM was to become effective lobbyists. With the knowledge that military weapons lobbyists have hundreds of legal based representatives well positioned to influence government VOW questioned how does anyone or any group influence for peace? MP Libby Davies provided a workshop on lobbying and emphasized that individual and small group lobbying is effective and outlined some strategies to increase effectiveness.

1. Outline the background of the issue for the MP who is dealing with multiple issues on any given day

2. Keep information brief and focused

3. Bring at least two people. One to ask questions and one to take notes. There should not be more than three people and do not present multiple agendas

4. Be sure to have doable requests and listen if the MP has other ideas how they can support your goals

5. Follow up shortly after your meeting with a thank you and a summary of what you understood would be done and when.

On Monday November 28th more than 20 MP’s were visited and asked to support at least one of 4 specific issues.

1. Climate Change

2. Demilitarization of the budget

3. Department of Peace

4. Furthering the Nuclear Weapons Convention

The results are still to be determined but one of the visited MPs, Irene Mathyssen (London-Fanshaw), was the third seconder on the newly submitted Bill C-373 to establish a Department of Peace.

Submission by Theresa Dunn Pan Canadian Co-chair of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative

Special Report From Civilian Peace Service Canada (CPSC)

Civilian Peace Service Canada (CPSC) Mission

Our goal is to build a sustainable peace, at home and abroad, in partnership with local communities, through establishment in a phased manner of the Civilian Peace Service Canada which facilitates the training and accreditation of qualified civilians to promote and facilitate the non-violent resolution of conflict.

Civilian Peace Service Canada has been very active on several fronts over the last year. In summary:

· Assessment and accreditation of peace professionals continues. We are now out of pilot mode and into full implementation, although modifications to our methodology continue to be made. We celebrated our first two accredited Peace Professionals, have since accredited two more and are currently assessing another two. One of our current “graduates” is located in Nepal.

· We are very proud of a significant upgrade/enhancement of our web-site. Check us out at www.civilianpeaceservice.ca. Have a look at the profiles of our Peace Professionals.

· We held a very successful workshop titled “Developing a Path for Young Peace Professionals”. The full report is on our web-site.

· One concrete result of the above workshop is a partnership that has been formed consisting of the Brian Bronfman Family Foundation, the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA), i-Canada and CPSC. Together we have formed the Canadian Peace Service whose vision is “to ensure that by the year 2020 Canada is a world leader in the creation of ‘pragmatic peace’ because of two unique programs: Civilian Peace Service Canada, aimed at creating peace professionals, and Communities@Peace, aimed at establishing community based peace practices”.

We are very excited by what has been accomplished in the past year and exhilarated by the potential for positive and sustainable change that lies ahead. The Canadian Peace Service partnership presents incredible opportunity, and challenges, in the years ahead.

Submission by Gord Breedyk, Co-Chair, CPS Coordinating Committee

Report on The Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace

The Fifth Summit of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace: Ubuntu in Action, Cape Town, South Africa, Oct. 2-6, 2011, was a resounding success, from the opening ceremony to dynamic panel discussions led by expert peace practitioners. The South African Peace Alliance was chosen to host this year’s Summit as a reflection of South Africa’s ability to overcome adversity and civil conflict, an achievement we celebrate as an organization, by which South Africa inspires other nations. The Global Alliance Summit was endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and US Congressman Dennis Kucinich, whose powerful words for peace resounded among those gathered at the Auditorium of the University of the Western Cape. Nineteen countries from all five continents, representing civil society, academia and government working toward peace, met for five historic days and agreed upon two major developments for the GA:

1. We became incorporated in Switzerland which gives us more credibility as a global organization, allows us to receive funding from various sources and to apply to the UN for consultative status.

2. We expanded our mission to support the establishment of infrastructures for peace (I4Ps) at all levels – national, regional and local – and changed our name to reflect this. We are now the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace (GAMIP), recognizing that any infrastructure for peace should have national, regional and local components.

The Global Alliance was proud to support the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award presented at the Summit Closing Ceremony to honour Nelson Mandela for his contributions to peace in South Africa, recognizing him as a leader in international peacebuilding.

For more information visit the website at: www.mfp-dop.org

Submission by Saul Arbess, Canadian delegate and former Chair, Global Alliance Leadership Council.

Recommended reading:

The End of War: How Waging Peace Can Save Humanity, Our Planet and Our Future

By Captain Paul K. Chappell, U.S. Army

Captain Paul K. Chappell is a soldier, warrior, and peacemaker. He’s also a writer who can put his thoughts on paper in logical, easy to understand, and moving words. His topic is one that goes back centuries to the ancient masters, but is an ever-increasing challenge for modern man, as our weapons have become so indescribably deadly. Open your heart and mind to this book, and learn what an endless and hopeless path war is, and how peace truly can be achieved.

Captain Chappell has walked that path of war, from West Point to Baghdad, and has insight and knowledge. He’s also made the inner quest, and shows us how violence can be transformed, its connection to greed, and the dangers of blind obedience. He also examines the question of torture, and why the rules of the Geneva Convention are so important for our very own safety.

This powerful book is not only relevant to the major conflicts that arise throughout the world, but its ideas can be a guideline for living peacefully with one’s neighbour, in our community, and throughout the country.

“Captain Paul K. Chappell has given us a crucial look at war and peace from the unique perspective of a soldier, and his new ideas show us why world peace is both necessary and possible in the 21st century. The End of War can help people everywhere understand why war must end, and how together we can end it.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

http://www.parl.gc.ca/LEGISInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&billId=5280365

Alex Atamanenko was joined at a press conference on Nov. 30 by fellow peace advocates, along with Elizabeth May of the Green Party and Liberal Jim Karygiannis to herald the introduction later in the day of his Private Member’s Bill. Atamenko’s bill is a slightly amended version of retired NDP MP Bill Siksay’s bill from the last parliament, notable for the non-partisan support it had gathered.

CDPI has  launched a petition to promote awareness and to indicate support of the CDPI campaign for the federal government to establish a Canadian Department of Peace. Please download the petition, circulate and return to a local chapter or by mail to the addresses below the petition. It is only the petition with the original signatures that is official and can be presented in Parliament by MPs.

NOTE: Each petition page must show the entire preamble to be valid.

PETITION TO ESTABLISH A DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED

We the undersigned residents of Canada draw the attention of the House to the following:

That non-violent peace has been sought by people since time immemorial;

That there exist proven methodologies for the non-violent resolution of conflict;

That the Military-Industrial Complex be constrained from perpetuating armed conflict;

That the promotion of a culture of nonviolent peace be placed firmly in decision making structure of the government;

That Canada’s foreign and military policy return to UN peacekeeping, peacebuilding and peace diplomacy;

That, to redirect this policy consistent with Canada’s interests for peace and human security, there is an urgent need for a Federal Department of Peace to establish a sustainable culture of peace at home and abroad through the creation of a Minister of Peace in Cabinet;

Whereas over a million Canadians actively support a federal Department of Peace as an important Ministerial position to provide critical leadership in the heart of government towards ensuring the federal government’s commitment to the promotion of peace worldwide;

THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon Parliament to establish a Department of Peace headed by a Minister of Peace as a senior cabinet position; and that this Department will reinvigorate Canada’s role as a global peacebuilder and work towards developing Culture of Peace and Nonviolent Resolution of Conflicts as a top priority.

SIGNATURE          CITY AND PROVINCE             POSTAL CODE

(Required)                        (Required)                                 (Required)

1_______________________________________________

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You may add more pages as required, but each page must contain the entire preamble to be valid.

We look forward to your signing the petition and disseminating it widely to

friends and colleagues who are on your email lists and social media

networks (Facebook and Twitter).

Mail returned petitions to:

Eastern signatures: CDPI Petitions, c/o OMM Peace and Social Concerns, 91-A Fourth Ave., Ottawa ON K1S 2L1

Western signatures (Manitoba west): Canadian Peace Initiative, 45 Cambridge St., Victoria BC V8V 4A7

Alternately, click on the

link below to show your support on-line:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/department-of-peace.html

The petition is posted on CDPI Facebook

page also at:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Canadian-Department-of-Peace-Initiative/116559845067605). Thanks to our youth media consultant Trizana Parillo who identified and designed the e-petition set up.

September 21 – October 2, 2011

Together with Ottawa peace and justice civil society groups, the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CDPI) invites you to take part in a 12-day Festival of Peace. The 5TH Annual Peace Festival with the theme of Peace, Unity and Harmony marks the two important UN International Days of Peace and Nonviolence, September 21 and October 02. (All events are open to the public, admission is free. Events are subject to change due to weather/unforeseen circumstances.)

Exhibitions/Art Shows with nonviolent peace focus:

September 01 to September 30:

§ “Mahatma Gandhi and A Legacy of Non-Violence”, Drawings by Montreal artist Suraj Sadan (www.fondationinternationalemahatmagandhi.com), Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe at Laurier (Koozma Tarasoff, CDPI, 613-737-5778, www.departmentofpeace.ca and Jagmohan Humar, Mahatma Gandhi Peace Council, 613-736-0783, www.gandhiji.ca)

September 21 – October 02:

§ “Poet and Artist: 30 Posters from the Heart”, select Gerald and Maas peace and human rights posters since 1980, at their editions/atelier, 206 St. Patrick St. The posters were exhibited last May at the Brecht Forum in New York City. (Bart Gerald and Julie Maas, 613- 241-1312, www.nightslantern.ca)

§ “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: In His Own Words”, A photo exhibit, Atrium at Ben Franklin Place, Centrepointe Drive (Daniel Stringer, National Capital Peace Council of the Universal Peace Federation, 613-792-1431)

§ No-War Paix: Outdoor Peace Installations, 250 Range Rd., Sandy Hill (Terry Stavnyck, 613-565-1915, www.stavnyck.ca)

September 24 – September 25:

§ “Trika Arts: Paintings on Peace and Meditation”, TrikaArts 851 Gallery, 1309 Clyde Ave. # 206, 1 PM – 5 PM. (Shiban Raina, 613-224-9179, www.trikarts851.com)

PEACE EVENTS

§ Wed. Sept. 21

o 10 AM: Paddle for Peace to inaugurate the UN International Day of Peace at Victoria Island including a Memorial Sharing Circle for Grandfather William Commanda (Romola Thumbadoo, Circle of All Nations, 613-599-8385, 819-449-2668, www.circleofallnations.ca)

o 6:30PM to 9:30 PM: Music Concert for Peace, Amphitheatre, Saint Paul University, (Daniel Mauro, Sacred Initiatives and CDPI, 819-459-1233)

§ Thurs. Sept. 22

o 5:15PM – 6:30 PM: Panel on “The Libya Question”. Ottawa City Hall, The Colonel By Room (Steven Staples, Rideau Institute, 613- 565-9449, www.rideauinstitute.ca)

o 6:30 PM – 8.45 PM: Panel on “Nonviolent Arab Awakening” (in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen) Ottawa Public Library, 120 Metcalfe at Laurier), (Qais Ghanem, Dialogue on Democracy, 613-265-4654 and Iman Ibrahim, Canadians for Egypt, 613-276-6764)

§ Fri. Sept. 23, 7 PM – 9 PM: Screening of “Journey of the Universe”: a film that weaves a tapestry of scientific discoveries with humanistic insights. Saint Paul University Auditorium, 223 Main Street ( Iman Ibrahim, 613-276-6764, journeyconference@ustpaul.ca )

o 7:30 – 10:00 pm: “Countdown to Zero”, an award winning film, Quaker House, 91A Fourth Avenue. (Andrea Levy, PGS,: 613-233-1982, www.pgs.ca)

§ Sat. Sept. 24

o 1 PM: Book launch – “Keeping Watch: Monitoring, Technology and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping” by Dr. Walter Dorn, Ottawa Public Library Auditorium, 120 Metcalfe (at Laurier), (Robin Collins, 613-791-5198 and Ottawa Public Library)

o 4 PM: “How to Save the World in your Spare Time”: Keynote by Elizabeth May, Green Party MP to speak on the topic of engaging politicians at Church of Ascension, 235 Echo Drive. (Andrea Levy, Physicians for Global Survival, (613) 233-1982, www.pgs.ca)

§ Sunday Sept 25, 3 PM: SGI Canada: Toward a World of Dignity for All: The Triumph of the Creative Life, a presentation based on the 2011 Peace Proposal of Daisaku Ikeda, lead by Tony Meers, General Director of SGI Canada, 237 Argyle St. , (John Callahan, Monica Bachmann, 613.232.1100, www.sgicanada.org)

§ Mon. Sept. 26, 6:30 PM to 8.45 PM: Panel on Challenge of Nonviolence in Religious Traditions, Lead speaker: Professor Nino Gualtieri, Ottawa Public Library Auditorium, 120 Metcalfe at Laurier, (Qais Ghanem, Dialogue with Diversity, 613-265-4654)

§ Tues. Sept. 27, 7:30 AM: Breakfast Seminar Series – Pino Buffone to speak on “UN Association in Canada: NCR Branch’s Role in Building Peace in Ottawa,” Carlingwood Family Restaurant, (Daniel Stringer, National Capital Peace Council, 613-792-1431)

§ Wed. Sept. 28, 7 PM: Panel on “Dissent in Democracy in Canada: Should dissent be confined to peace activists?”, 233 Gilmour St., (Larry Rousseau, No War- Paix, 613-565-1915, www.no-warpaix.ca)

§ Thurs. Sept. 29

o 6:30 PM to 8.45 PM: “A Department of Peace: Why?” Ottawa Public Library Auditorium, 120 Metcalfe at Laurier (Iman Ibrahim, Canadian Dept of Peace Initiative, 613-276-6764, Bill Bhaneja (613) 244-1979, www.departmentofpeace.ca)

o 7:00 PM – 9 PM: Spiritpainting for Peace – complete a peace Spiritpainting for yourself and participate in a group ‘Spiritpainting for Peace’. Quaker Friends House, 91 A Fourth Ave. downstairs (Call 613-266-8063 Jen Jones,spiritpainting2002@yahoo.com, www.spiritpainting.com)

§ Fri. Sept. 30. 6PM – 9PM: Workshop: This Precious Life-My Conscious Creation: Be Here Now-Do Here Now”, Emerald Plaza Public Library, 1547 Merivale Rd. Workshop limited to 15 people( Vesna Scott: 613 224 5480, vesna@sympatico.ca)

§ Sat. Oct. 1

o 10 AM – 4:30PM: 9th Annual Friends for Peace Day: A day of music, silent auction, and peace awards presented by Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, Ottawa City Hall (Ian Prattis, Friends for Peace, 613-726-0881, www.friendsforpeace.ca)

o 11 AM: Jean Béliveau, the World Walker and Terry Fox of Peace, Path of Peace Walk to Ottawa City Hall, Phase 1, The walk starts at Minto Park, Elgin Street (Peter Stockdale, City of Peace Ottawa, 613-852-4527, www.mycityofpeace.com)

§ Sunday, Oct. 2

o Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti celebrations, Kailash Mittal Hall, Carleton University, (Jag Humar, Mahatma Gandhi Peace Council of Ottawa, 613-736-0783, www.gandhiji.ca)

[§ Mon. Oct. 3, 11 AM: Jean Béliveau, the World Walker Terry Fox of Peace, Path of Peace Walk from Parliament Hill to Gatineau City Hall, Phase 2, 11 AM Parliament Hill Peace Flame (Peter Stockdale, City of Peace Ottawa, 613-852-4527, www.mycityofpeace.com)]

Note: All Peace Festival activities are public events without admission fee. Also note that all events/dates are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. For further information, please contact Festival convenors: Bill Bhaneja, billbhaneja@rogers.com , 613-244-1979 and Peter Stockdale, globalbridge@rogers.com, 613-863-4527 Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CDPI), and for individual events, respective contacts listed in the program. Program also posted on www.departmentofpeace.ca, www.civilianpeaceservice.ca, and www.cicr-icrc.ca (as of 02/09/11)

Canadian Department of Peace Initiative

Summer 2011

Inspiring News and Views

www.departmentofpeace.ca

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Department-of-Peace-Initiative/116559845067605

“The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists.”

– William Jefferson Clinton (42nd President of The United States)

Canada’s 41st Parliament and the CDPI

We now have a majority Conservative government forming Canada’s 41st Parliament and the political landscape is greatly changed. Although we have lost several Members who were key endorsers of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative there is much room for optimism. We have two party leaders in the House, Jack Layton and Elizabeth May, who have stood up in support of the Department of Peace proposal. We also have a significantly increased number of young MPs in the House to engage in our discussions. As this new Parliament begins there is a much higher level of awareness among politicians of the CDPI than ever before.

Additionally, events around the world are forcing governments to rethink their approaches to conflict. This is creating opportunities for us speak to Conservative MPs about our campaign and provide an alternative vision to them. It remains to be seen if they will consider our proposal for a Department of Peace but they do have compelling reasons to hear us out.

Our assets continue to include our two pioneering champion supporters, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Douglas Roche and former Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, twenty additional prominent supporting individuals, thirty national endorsing organizations and the CDPI organization with its twelve chapters across Canada. Our base is growing and we have accumulated considerable experience in reaching out to both politicians and the public. We are at a very good place in our campaign for this new Parliament.

As well, we have four years to reach out to the 60% of Canadians who voted other than Conservative in this election. There must be a convergence of environmental, social justice and peace initiatives among these voters so that collectively our voices are stronger and clearer and cannot be ignored.

While enjoying the wonder of summer remember that it will take all of us working together to preserve and protect what we have in our beautiful country.

Atamanenko Introduces Peace Motions in House of Commons

Already in this new Parliament a Member of Parliament has stepped up on behalf of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative.

BC Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko has introduced two motions in the House of Commons:

M-247 calling for a Civilian Peace Service

M-248 calling for a Department of Peace

M-247 — June 21, 2011 —

Mr. Atamanenko (British Columbia Southern Interior) — That, in the opinion of the House, the government should adopt the recommendations of the Civilian Peace Service Canada (CPSC) Development Committee and should: (a) accept the constructive role civilians with peace building expertise can play in advising government on alternatives to military approaches to resolution of conflict; (b) enter into discussions with the CPSC Development Committee to further develop the concept of a CPSC; (c) develop and refine an assessment, training and accreditation program for peace professionals; (d) deliver two pilot training programs to test the concept and the training; (e) determine how Canada, through the CPSC and in consideration of a federal Department of Peace, can best contribute to sustainable peace in Canada and abroad; and (f) report back to the House on progress towards implementing these recommendations within six months of the passage of this motion.

M-247 — 21 juin 2011 —

M. Atamanenko (British-Columbia-Southern Interior) — Que, de l’avis de la Chambre, le gouvernement se conforme aux recommandations du Comité de développement du Service civil de la paix du Canada (SCPC) et : a) accepte le rôle constructif que peuvent jouer les civils ayant des connaissances en consolidation de la paix en conseillant le gouvernement sur des solutions de rechange aux interventions militaires pour résoudre les conflits; b) entame des discussions avec le Comité de développement du SCPC en vue d’approfondir l’idée d’un SCPC; c) élabore et améliore un programme d’évaluation, de formation et d’accréditation de professionnels de la paix; d) propose deux programmes pilotes de formation pour tester la notion et la formation; e) détermine comment le Canada, par l’intermédiaire du SCPC et si l’on considère la création possible d’un ministère fédéral de la Paix, peut le mieux contribuer à une paix durable tant au Canada qu’à l’étranger; f) fasse part à la Chambre des progrès accomplis vers la mise en œuvre de ces recommandations dans les six mois de l’adoption de la présente motion.

M-248 — June 21, 2011 —

Mr. Atamanenko (British Columbia Southern Interior) — That, in the opinion of the House, the government should establish a Department of Peace as part of the structure of the federal government and cabinet with a mandate to advocate for the non-violent resolution of conflict at home and abroad, the professionalization of peace work by Canadians, and the development of a culture of peace in Canada and internationally.

M-248 — 21 juin 2011 —

M. Atamanenko (British-Columbia-Southern Interior) — Que, de l’avis de la Chambre, le gouvernement devrait créer un ministère de la Paix qui ferait partie de la structure du gouvernement et du Cabinet et qui aurait pour mandat de promouvoir la résolution non violente des conflits au Canada et à l’étranger, la professionnalisation du travail de paix accompli par les Canadiens, et le développement d’une culture de la paix au Canada et à l’échelle internationale.

Please contact your MP to make them aware of these motions and ask that they add their name as a co-seconder. The more MPs that sign on to the motions the more attention they will receive by the government.

Jean Béliveau – World Wide Walk For Peace And Children

On August 18th, 2000, at 9:00 am, Jean Béliveau left Montreal on foot. His goal: to walk around the world. For eleven years he has travelled alone with a three-wheeled stroller that holds a bit of food, his clothing, a first aid kit, a small tent and a sleeping bag.

Jean has walked over 78,000km through sixty-four countries. When he left he was 45 years old. He is now 56. He has walked through the US, Central America, South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South and Eastern Asia, Australia, New Zealand and is now walking across Canada.

His walk is dedicated to peace and nonviolence for the children of the world. The United Nations General Assembly had proclaimed the year 2000 as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and 2001-2010 was designated as the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World. Unfortunately, the past decade has brought us anything but peace. Hundreds of thousands of children have been killed or injured by war over the past ten years. Undaunted, Jean has continued to walk, keeping alive the dream, the hope, and the promise of peace for the children of the world.

Along the way Jean has met with presidents and Noble Prize winners, including President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica and Nelson Mandela of South Africa, but predominantly he has engaged with ordinary people; chatted as they strolled beside him, stayed in their homes when he was invited. He has been an ambassador for peace but also an unofficial emissary for Canada, touching thousands of lives and inspiring hundreds of newspaper articles in dozens of countries along the way. It has been a remarkable journey and a great story.

Be sure to visit the website maintained by Jean’s wife, Luce. Check out the map of this remarkable journey and watch the trailer from a movie about Jean. You will be amazed and inspired.

In Canada, Jean has also been raising awareness of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative wherever he has opportunity and CDPI Chapters are supporting the WWWalk from Victoria to Montréal. Keep an eye out for Jean as he comes your way. He is now south of Thunder Bay heading for Toronto. His daily schedule is listed on the website. He would love to have you walk with him a while or share a meal.

We look forward to his jubilant arrival home to Montreal on October 16th. Well done Jean!

CDPI National Annual General Meeting & Conference

This year our dynamic Edmonton Chapter is hosting the CDPI AGM & Conference at the Providence Renewal Centre in Edmonton, Alberta from September 16th to 18th, 2011.

National Co-chairs Theresa Dunn of Ottawa and Dr. Saul Arbess of Victoria, along with Chapter Chairs from across Canada, will join Edmonton Co-chairs Teresa Engler and Irene Hunter and the CDPI Edmonton Chapter supporters at Providence Renewal Centre. There is a great program planned and it will be an inspiring three days.

Save the date Saturday afternoon, September 17th for a public event to be held on at Providence Centre.

Visit Edmonton’s new website, www.cdpiedmonton.ca, for updates and contact information.

Global Alliance Summit for Ministeries and Departments of Peace

The 5th Global Alliance Summit for Ministries and Departments of Peace will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from October 2nd-7th, 2011.

The Summit Theme is Ubuntu in Action. Ubuntu is an African philosophy which can be explained as a belief that a person is a person through other people. Ubuntu is characterized by an awareness of the interconnectedness that we share as human beings.

The Programme is set to be an exciting one, with speaker invitations being sent to His Grace, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, Graca Machel, Ela Gandhi, Wangari Mathai, Kofi Anan, Professor Geoff Harris, Professor Marion Keim-Lees, Professor Uma Mesthrie Dephelia, the Premier of the Western Cape, Ms Helen Zille, Minister of Justice, Minister Jeff Radebe, Pregs Govender and Dr Charles Villa Vincencio of the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation.

Visit the Global Alliance website for updates and contact information.

World Peace Festival 2011

The World Peace Festival 2011 is a groundbreaking weeklong event staged in Berlin from August 20 to 27. It features an influential and provoking programme of conferences, seminars, exhibitions and workshops attended or led by Nobel Peace Prize laureates, world leaders from the business and political arenas, military and government chiefs and luminaries from the spiritual, arts, music and film worlds. All discussions will focus attention on the prevention and resolution of conflict in the world today.

At its heart, the festival will stage live music concerts featuring inspirational and globally renowned artists all rallying for the challenge of a real and sustainable peace in conflict zones all over the world. Just to read the list of speakers and the topics to be addressed is inspiring. For more information on the programme click here.

Recommended Reading:

Captivity: 118 Days in Iraq and the Struggle for a World Without War

In November 2005, Jim Loney and three other men — Canadian Harmeet Singh Sooden, British citizen Norman Kember and American Tom Fox — were taken hostage at gunpoint. The men were with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an organization that places teams trained in non-violent intervention into lethal conflict zones. The then unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigade released videos of the men, resulting in what is likely the most publicized kidnapping of the Iraq War. Tom Fox was murdered and dumped on a Baghdad street. The surviving men were held for 118 days before being rescued by Task Force Black, an elite counter-kidnap unit led by the British SAS.

Captivity is the story of what Jim described upon his return to Toronto and reunion with his partner Dan Hunt as “a terrifying, profound, transformative and excruciatingly boring experience.”

It presents an affecting portrait of how Jim came to be a pacifist and chronicles his work in Iraq before the kidnapping. It brings the reader immediately into the terror and banality, the frictions, the moral dilemmas of their captivity, their search to find their captors’ humanity, and the imperative need to conceal Jim’s sexual identity. It examines the paradoxes we face when our most cherished principles are tested in extraordinary circumstances and explores the universal truths contained in every captivity experience. At its heart, the book is a hope-filled plea for peace, human solidarity and forgiveness.

Jim says, ‘It is a paradox. I went to Iraq as a pacifist on a mission of peace and was kidnapped, threatened with death and held hostage with three other men until we were rescued in a military operation. It is an extraordinary privilege to be able to tell the story of this paradox, to explain why I remain committed to the principles of nonviolence despite the fact a member of our group was murdered and our freedom was secured by armed force. The crucible of captivity was a kind of school in which I was able to see the innermost workings of the universe, how we are all connected, how our liberation is inextricably tied together. I want to share this story in the hope of contributing to the emergence of a world without war, the single greatest challenge of the 21st century. Everything depends on this, for without peace nothing else is possible.’

(Jim Loney is a good friend and supporter of the Canadian Department of Peace Toronto Chapter)

You can check out the reviews and purchase the book here or visit your favorite bookstore.

His walk was undertaken to promote and support UNESCO’s International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World, 2001–2010. Because of Jean’s courage and determination, we believe the UNESCO Decade must be been extended through 2011. In our eyes, the Decade cannot be over until Jean Béliveau reaches his final destination and Canada responds with an implementation plan to honour Jean’s extraordinary dedication on behalf of children everywhere. Among other goals, Jean supports the creation of a Minister and Department of Peace in Canada as a legacy for the Decade.

Jean has achieved his epic walk around the world traveling alone with a three-wheel stroller that holds food, clothing, a First Aid kit, a small tent and a sleeping bag. As a true peace pilgrim, Jean relied upon the support and encouragement of people he met along the way who expressed deep admiration and a powerful desire for peace in the world.

Events In Vancouver and Victoria – January and February

Jean arrived back in Canada from New Zealand in Vancouver on Sunday, January 30 to a rousing and joyous welcome by the people of Greater Vancouver, many NGOs, children and youth.

On February 18, Jean travels to Victoria for further encounters with children and others, followed by the official launch on February 20, at 10am from the Legislature, in the company of the Premier of British Columbia (unconfirmed), his entourage and the people of Victoria who will walk with him. He then returns to Vancouver for the second official launch on February 21 from City Hall with the Mayor of Vancouver (unconfirmed) and many others accompanying him. More information will follow on this event.

For more information, contact: Dr. Saul Arbess at info@departmentofpeace.ca or 250-383-5878.

Briefing – January 2011

Inspiring News and Views

www.departmentofpeace.ca

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Department-of-Peace-Initiative/116559845067605

Special Request!

We have launched an online petition which is only available until January 31st. Let’s see how many signatures we can collect in one month! Please alert all of your contacts and be sure to sign it yourself at:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/department-of-peace.html

First Peace Profesionals Accredited in Canada!

November 24, 2010 – by Koozma J. Tarasoff

After four years of groundbreaking work, the Ottawa-based Civilian Peace Service Canada (CPSC) accredited its first two graduates at a wine and cheese reception in Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada, November 24, 2010. The event was attended by representatives of leading civil society organizations and political parties. These included Liberal MP Larry Bagnell, NDP MP Bill Siksay, and Joe Foster from the Green Party.

CPSC, the first organization to develop and apply a standardized methodology for accrediting Peace Professionals, presented accreditation certificates to their first two graduates: Dr. Ben Hoffman and Yves Morneau.

Dr. Benjamin Hoffman is a specialist in negotiation, mediation, and peacebuilding. He obtained his B.A. and M.A. (Psychology) from Wilfred Laurier University, an M.A. in International Relations from Tufts University, and a Ph.D. from York University, UK. He also specialized in International Peacemaking at the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation. Ben’s interest in mediation began in correctional services in Northern Ontario and grew over the last 30 years to include healing and restorative justice work in a variety of national and international settings. For the past two years he led a community healing process in the City of Cornwall under the auspices of the Public Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse. From 2000 to 2003, he was Director of the Conflict Resolution Program at The Carter Center, acting as President Jimmy Carter’s representative, focusing on implementing the Nairobi Agreement, negotiations with the Lords Resistance Army, and efforts to end the nineteen year old war in Sudan. As President and CEO of the Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation he is also currently active in violence prevention and reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa and is mediator in the Gladstone Reconciliation, BC. Dr. Hoffman is called upon to provide mediation, peacebuilding advice, and to lecture to a wide range of clients throughout the world.

Yves Morneau was raised in a multicultural environment on Saint Urban Street in Montreal. His classical studies prepared him to become a ‘responsible citizen of the world’, first as a missionary with the White Fathers in Zambia, and later on as an employee of the Canadian International Development Agency in Tanzania and Benin, accompanied by his wife, Lise. Reflecting on his 40 years of work in development, mainly in Africa, he concluded that social, political and economic progress could only happen if tolerance, compassion and mutual understanding prevailed over class, religion and ethnicity. Consequently, after retiring from CIDA, he acquired a Master’s degree in Conflict Studies and trained with the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution. These studies supplemented four decades of international experience by providing him with practical tools for understanding deep-rooted conflicts and facilitating better relationships among groups and individuals.

Civilian Peace Service Canada is committed to developing and applying ‘gold standard’ criteria for assessing the fitness of civilians to do effective work in conflict zones. Like doctors, lawyers, engineers and soldiers, peace workers need to be assessed and accredited for competence and professionalism. Thousands of organizations are doing excellent work in training and research for viable alternatives to military responses to conflict, but few are assessing “readiness” to intervene.

CPSC’s main thrust is to develop an expanding cadre of peace professionals with high levels of skill in areas such as communications, mediation, conflict analysis and operational planning, along with a commitment to both non-violent conflict transformation and core values such as empathy, integrity and social justice. This cadre is looked on by Global Action to Prevent War as a necessary supplement to UN-based efforts to implement the Responsibility to Protect with tools and capacities in a proposed UN Emergency Peace Service.

In working to build a sustainable peace at home and abroad, CPSC is part of a growing international movement in the establishment of Departments of Peace within national governments. This ensures that national governments act with the informed perspective of the Department of Peace when engaging in domestic and/or international policy and practice.

In an effort to develop a core of young peace professionals, Civilian Peace Service Canada in cooperation with the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative, the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution and the Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation, will be holding a one day workshop at Saint Paul University, 223 Main Street, Ottawa, February 17, 2011.

The goal is to lay the groundwork for a Civilian Youth Peace Service program. This program would train youth in the competencies of nonviolent conflict management and provide career opportunities for employment in community development, peace and civil security. Youth is defined as those between 15 to 30 years of age.

Contact Gordon Breedyk of CPSC at gbreedyk@rogers.com

Ottawa, December 7, 2010

Cdn Parliament adopts resolution supporting Nuclear Weapons Convention

The Canadian House of Commons gave unanimous consent this afternoon to a motion submitted by the Bill Siksay MP, Chair of the Canadian Section of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND), endorsing the United Nations Secretary-General’s Five-Point-Plan for nuclear disarmament and calling on the Government of Canada to engage in negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention as proposed by the UN Secretary-General.

The motion also endorsed a statement signed by over 500 members of the Order of Canada (the highest award in Canada) expressing an urgent need for action to abolish nuclear weapons, calling on all States to commence negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, and urging Canada to take leadership. Endorsers include filmmakers Atom Egoyan and Norman Jewison, authors Margaret Atwood, Charlotte Gray and Michael Ondaatje, entertainers like Bruce Cockburn, artists such as Alex Colville, environmentalist David Suzuki, ballerina Karen Kain, former external affairs minister Flora MacDonald and Senator Romeo Dallaire.

The House of Commons action resolution follows a similar motion submitted by Senator Hugh Segal (Conservative Party) to the Canadian Senate and adopted unanimously on 2 June 2010 (See Canadian Senate supports Nuclear Weapons Convention – unanimously).

Last month the government of Canada abstained on a UN General Assembly resolution calling for negotiations leading to the conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention. Canadians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, which organised the Order of Canada statement, believes that there is now a growing consensus expressed by world leaders on the urgent need for ridding the world of nuclear weapons, and that a Nuclear Weapons Convention is widely recognized as the best negotiating process yet devised to achieve this.

The fact that some Nuclear Weapon States do not yet agree to commence such negotiations should not be a barrier. As with the Landmines and Cluster Munitions campaigns, a group of like-minded countries could start the process and build political momentum for its success (See An Ottawa process for Nuclear Weapons, The Embassy – Canada’s Foreign Policy Weekly, 10 Nov 2010).

The motions adopted in the Canadian Senate and House of Commons are part of a growing number of such resolutions in parliaments around the world (See Resolutions adopted or pending in national and regional parliaments supporting the NWC and/or the UN Secretary-General’s five-point plan on nuclear disarmament).

Editors Note: Once again MP Bill Siksay has worked tirelessly in the name of peace to achieve this unanimous consent in the House for a Nuclear Weapons Convention. We offer him our heartfelt thanks.

It was just over one year ago that Bill tabled Bill C-447- Act to Establish the Department of Peace in the House of Commons which has since become a significant point of discussion among Members of Parliament and appreciably raised awareness of our campaign.

So it is with sadness that we read the next headline from the CBC:

NDP’s Siksay stepping down as Burnaby MP

We have thoroughly enjoyed and deeply appreciated our relationship with Bill over the last couple of years and will not forget his contribution to the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative. We wish him all the best in his future endeavours and look forward with interest as to what they will be. Hopefully our paths will continue to cross as we work to bring some measure of peace to this struggling world. Thanks Bill.

Protect the Arctic by a Treaty establishing an Arctic Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone

The icy high Arctic, isolated and inaccessible, is melting rapidly. Within a decade or two, in the summer months, goods will be carried in active shipping lanes using shorter routes through the ice-free waters of the Arctic Ocean. These changes are creating a new security environment, and even today, circumpolar nations are adding to their military capabilities for the new Arctic.

The Arctic Ocean littoral states agreed under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on methodology for territorial claims to the coastlines and seabed. Joint protocols, both bilateral and multilateral, are being developed to protect indigenous populations, northern communities, and their environment, plan search-and-rescue operations, implement shipping regulations, and plan sustainable exploitation of fisheries and seabed hydrocarbon resources.

A military presence under these circumstances would not be unusual. But this is the time to recognize that nuclear weapons must have no place in the Arctic. The peaceful collaboration now operating in many joint efforts is an example to be emulated in planning for an Arctic Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (ANWFZ), covering the portion of the globe north of the Arctic Circle.

Implementing this security measure would be a giant move toward denuclearization, because it involves two nuclear weapon states – the United States and Russia, and it would build confidence toward the next reduction of nuclear weapons, beyond the New START treaty. The ANWFZ could be accomplished step by step over several years, synchronizing with international efforts on other facets of arms control and disarmament.

For more information visit the website of the Canadian Pugwash Group at:http://arcticnwfz.ca/index.php?portalid=1&option=com_artportal&Itemid=5

Peace and Justice Studies Conference

Four Excellent Videos from the CDPI

Why we need Bill C-447 – Bill Bhaneja, co-founder of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative, explains why Canadians need to have a Department of Peace implemented within the Canadian government.

Climate Change and Peace: A Necessary Convergence – Saul Arbess, co-founder of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative, says it is time we linked the military and climate change. He advocates for Department of Peace within world governments to look for peaceful way of resolving disputes.

A Myth of Peace – Richard Preston, representative of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative, Hamilton Chapter, speaks about the need to have a Myth of Peace.

Nonkilling Society – Bill Bhaneja, speaks about a Nonkilling Society

Jet fighters a costly mistake for taxpayers

By Tamara Lorincz and Steven Staples

Representatives from the Department of National Defence have recently crossed the country to promote the controversial purchase of stealth fighter jets.

Unfortunately, the DND representatives have not given a full and frank assessment of the F-35 stealth fighter program, the largest military equipment procurement in Canadian history.

Most significantly, they failed to disclose the serious risks, particularly financial, to the Canadian taxpayers.

In July, Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced the government’s plan to buy 65 F-35s for an anticipated $9 billion, through a sole-source, non-competitive contract.

The F-35 stealth fighter is marketed as a fifth-generation fighter-bomber by its maker, U.S. weapons giant Lockheed Martin.

Despite the fact that MacKay has announced the fighter purchase, the government has not signed a contract with Lockheed Martin spelling out exactly how much each plane is going to cost Canadian taxpayers.

Though Lockheed Martin might have given an estimate on the price, a final contact won’t be signed for another two or three years. Even worse, the cost to the Canadian government for the support and maintenance of the high-tech stealth fighters is not known and would be negotiated at a later date.

This program has troubled auditor general Sheila Fraser, who warned of the high risk of cost overruns and delays for the F-35 stealth fighters based on her audit of the Cyclone and sole-sourced Chinook helicopter purchases.

Earlier this year, the United States Government Accounting Office also found escalating costs and continuing technical problems with the F-35s in its congressional report entitledJoint Strike Fighter: Additional Costs and Delays Risk Not Meeting Warfighter Requirements on Time.

And in testimony before the standing committee on national defence in October, Alan Williams, a former DND deputy minister and author of the book Reinventing Defence Procurement, condemned the sole-sourcing of the stealth fighters and urged a competitive bidding process.

“An open, fair, and transparent process is critical,” Williams said. “Undertaking sole-source deals leaves the procurement process more vulnerable to fraud, bribery and behind-the-scenes deal-making and leaves the federal government more susceptible to such charges.

“There’s a moral obligation on the part of the leaders of this country to treat our citizens with a lot more respect and provide us really truthful, rigorous, detailed and appropriate answers, not be glibly trying to defend things that are frankly, from my view, indefensible,” he said.

It should trouble Canadians that Pierre Lagueux, who as assistant deputy minister of defence in 1997 was behind the original memorandum of understanding for Canada to join eight other countries in the development of the F-35s, is now a lobbyist for Lockheed Martin.

As well, the prime minister’s chief of staff, Nigel Wright, sat on the board of Hawker Beechcraft, a supplier to Lockheed Martin, before he became Harper’s right-hand man.

In a televised interview, Williams said it is the corporate lobbyists who do not want an open, fair and transparent procurement process.

However, Canadian taxpayers deserve such a public, competitive process that gives a comprehensive analysis and an honest accounting of the stealth fighter program, especially when the federal government is running record annual deficits and adding to the national debt.

Canadians should also question if investing in next-generation fighter jets is a priority over investing in our next generation — our children, education, the environment and health care.

Do we want the federal government to spend $16 billion of our tax dollars on stealth fighters?

Moreover, Canadian citizens should be consulted on the future role for the air force and on the direction of the military, something that was denied to the public by the Canada First Defence Strategy of 2008.

Other countries, such as Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and the U.K. have postponed or reduced their commitment to purchase the F-35s because of citizens’ concerns and the uncertainty over life-cycle costs.

Winslow Wheeler, an American national security expert at the Center for Defense Information, has claimed “the F-35′s bloat – in cost, leaden weight and mindless complexity – guarantees failure.”

We agree and call on the federal government to permanently ground any plans to buy the stealth fighters.

Tamara Lorincz is with the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace and Steven Staples is president of the Rideau Institute, an independent research and advocacy group.

Full Article: http://www.timescolonist.com/technology/fighters+costly+mistake+taxpayers/3956836/story.html?id=3956836

The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy

by Metta Spencer

They have built a museum in the Kremlin, but it displays only ancient things. You have to discover the new things for yourself. Fortunately, outside the fortress walls many changes are obvious: The traffic, for example, is too clogged with Mercedes and Lexus cars to move, but when it does move, they all race fiercely.

There are subtle changes too, such as the vibrations. If you know where to look, you can go dig up quartz crystals that liberal “New Age” Russians have buried in strategic spots around the Kremlin, hoping to counteract the vibes of tyranny. But I don’t know where to look and if you find any, please leave them alone. The fortress needs all the purification my democratic friends can give it.

I can tell you a bit about the political intrigues inside the Kremlin, but I am more fascinated by the political orientations of the people living outside its walls. Their changes I will describe in this book…

“This brilliant work illuminates not only crucial developments in modern Russian history, but the profound influence transnational civil society has had on building a peaceful and democratic world.”

- Lawrence S. Wittner, professor at the State University of New York, Albany, and author of Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement

Copies may be ordered at: http://russianpeaceanddemocracy.com/order

Quest for Gandhi: A Nonkilling Journey

by Balwant Bhaneja

At the southern tip of India, the small inlet of Kanyakumari brushes with the waters of Indian Ocean while Dehradun, capital of India’s new state of Uttranchal in the North juts with the mountainous ranges of Himalayas. The book, a deep desire to understand the meaning and relevance of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s inclusive message of nonviolent political action in early 21st Century, is from Balwant Bhaneja’s (a retired Canadian diplomat) travel journal about meetings in the spring of 2006 with individuals, young and old, across India who in their unique ways have been impacted by Gandhi’s life and have chosen to follow the nonviolent path for social justice and a nonkilling peace. On the way to visit them the journey also becomes a pilgrimage to some of the places where Mahatma Gandhi stayed during the struggle for India’s Independence from the British Rule.

Copies may be ordered: http://www.lulu.com/product/13629370

Or downloaded free at: http://nonkilling.org/pdf/volume_gandhi.pdf

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Department-of-Peace-Initiative/116559845067605

“Peace is the virtue of civilization. War is its crime.”
-Victor Hugo (writer, statesman, and human rights activist, 1802–1885)

Report on the CDPI Annual General Meeting
Winnipeg, Manitoba Sunday, October 3, 2010

NOTE: FOUR VIDEOS OF PRESENTATIONS MADE BY CDPI BOARD MEMBERS  CAN BE VIEWED AT .

Thanks to Pedro Mora and Linda Taffs for their excellent and volunteer work.

The fourth Canadian Department of Peace Initiative Annual General Meeting was held in Winnipeg Manitoba on October 1-3 of 2010. The attendance by representatives of 9 of the now 12 Chapters throughout Canada provided rich discussion and visioning for the growing initiative.

In addition to the AGM, CDPI was a partner with the Peace and Justice Studies Association at their annual conference during which CDPI convened two sessions on where the movement is at and where it should be going strategically. As well, four members of the Board made individual presentations.

The AGM business component was graciously facilitated, as a community service, by Denis and Noelle DePape for which we are very thankful. The meeting notes were taken by Perry Kimelmann of the Winnipeg group and thanks are due to him for the excellent job done.

Board members in attendance were: Peter Stockdale (Youth Chapter), Richard Preston Hamilton) , Irene Hunter (Edmonton), Carol Zhong (Vanclouver), Jean Trudel (Montreal), Bill Bhaneja (Ottawa), Kevin Rumsey Whitehorse), Micheline St. Hilaire (Winnipeg), Penny Joy (Victoria), Saul Arbess (Victoria), and Theresa Dunn (Ottawa), along with members of the Winnipeg Chapter and the Canadian Peace Alliance. The gathering of Pan Canadian representatives promotes solidarity as we celebrated the numerous activities accomplished throughout 2009-2010 as well as envisioned our next steps.

The following decisions and actions were taken in addition to continuing our core activities:

1. To pursue a membership basis at the chapter level and a sub-committee formed to develop a membership process that is to report by year’s end to the full Board. The outcome will be embedded in the Constitution and an implementation plan developed by March 31, 2011.

2. A Communication/Social Media Sub-committee was established to review the web site and financial arrangements with the web master and to build our social media opportunities, especially on Facebook, with a new group having been formed by Kevin, acting as administrator,.with over 100 members.

3. A new thrust at the local and provincial level was agreed to, with the name Peace in Action. Some specific actions are – create a culture of peace profile for each municipality, support the work of Jean Belliveau and his Walk for Peace across the world as he re-enters Canada and, engage in a petition campaign.

4. Steps were taken to update and continuously refresh the National Register

5. A possible web survey of a sample of Canadians re the department of peace idea is to be studied

Consideration was given to leadership succession at the chapter and Pan Canadian levels with the general guideline of two years in each office.

Submitted by Saul Arbess and Theresa Dunn, Pan Canadian Co-chairs.

PNND Update – 29 July 2010

Canadian Senate supports Nuclear Weapons Convention – Unanimously

On June 2, 2010, the Senate of Canada unanimously adopted a motion submitted by Senator Hugh Segal (Conservative Party), which, inter alia, endorsed the UN Secretary-General’s Five-Point Plan for nuclear disarmament and encouraged the government of Canada to engage in negotiations for a Nuclear Weapons Convention. While Senate resolutions are usually just declaratory, in this case, the Senate decided to send the motion to the House of Commons with the aim to achieve a common resolution following the summer recess. The overwhelming support by the Senate for the Nuclear Weapons Convention follows the release in March of a letter supporting the Nuclear Weapons Convention from over 500 recipients of the Order of Canada – the country’s highest civilian honour.

PNND Special Representative Roméo Dallaire, speaking in the debate on the draft resolution, indicated a number of key areas in which Canada could contribute to nuclear disarmament – including verification for a NWC and the establishment of an Arctic Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone as a step towards global nuclear abolition.

Note: For more on the significance of a Nuclear Weapons Convention see a recent article by Ray Acheson in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

While all of our chapters have been active this fall with Peace Day happenings we feature events from Ottawa and Edmonton and Montreal.

Ottawa – 4th Annual Peace Festival 2010

What started out four years ago as a small gathering of concerned people has become a wide-spread celebration of Ottawa’s civil society peace and justice community through a 12 day Annual Ottawa Peace Festival, September 21 to October 2.

Click the link below to check out this excellent report by Koozma Tarasoff. There are lots of interesting photos and a great summary.

http://www.spirit-wrestlers.com/

Edmonton – Escalating Peace

On June 19, 2010, Edmonton Chapter of CDPI held its first peace event, a workshop Escalating Peace by reframing the peace message using positive words and actions at three levels: self, community, and nation.

Escalating Peace keynote speaker was Dr. Randall Amster; author, and peace and social justice professor from Prescott College, Arizona. Dr. Amster is also executive director of the North American Peace and Justice Studies Association.

One of Dr. Amster’s newer books Lost in Space: The Criminalization, Globalization, and Urban Ecology of Homelessness 2008, is an indispensable analysis of contemporary homelessness. Dr. Amster also co edited Building Cultures of Peace: transdisciplinary voices of action and hope text in 2009.

Workshop attendees from the Edmonton Peace Community, many with considerable years of peace experience generated 36 ways of increasing peace by reframing peace messages with positive words and actions for one self, in the city, and in Canada. Initiatives included:

Rephrasing of Peace Protestor/Activist to Peace Promoter

Write “love letters” to peace. Send to friends, students, government.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, wrote in his book Being Peace:

“There is a lot of anger, frustration, and misunderstanding in the peace movement. The peace movement can write very good protest letters, but they are not yet able to write a love letter.”

Organizing a City with a peace perspective. Mayors for Peace

Implement a Canadian Department of Peace by supporting a local chapter, writing political party leaders, phoning and writing riding MP’s.

Sending kudos and thank yous to non violent peace workers…card was signed by workshop participants to Zahra Ismail of Non-violent Peace Force in Sri Lanka. See CDPI May/June Newsletter interview with Zahra.

For all 36 ways to escalate peace contact CDPI@shaw.ca

Edmontonians gathered at City Hall Plaza during the noon hour on Sept. 21 to commemorate UN International Peace Day. The peace day program began with the raising of the “World Peace Flag” which has the word ‘peace’ written on it in 37 languages. St. James students then read their published peace poetry to an admiring and hopeful crowd of the next generation. A moment of silence was observed to honour the world-wide “Million Minutes for Peace Pledge” and a Proclamation from City of Edmonton was delivered by Councillor Sohi and accepted by St. James students and teacher Colleen Ring. Guest speakers included: Dr. Tom Keating and Dr. Andy Knight from the University of Alberta who spoke on the significance of the United Nations and its contributions to sustainable peace around the world and it is important to begin building a culture of peace. Young filmmakers Rabia Sheikh and Maigan vander Giessen discussed how their documentary is part of making peace. Inspiring musical performances were by Quatezala Maria Carson who sang “Generations” and Paula Kirman who sang “Hinei a Tov” and MC for the event was Renee Vageois.

Peace Day was followed by several other Edmonton Peace Events. On Sept. 23, a Peace Poetry Reading was held at the downtown library with special guest reader Alice Major, Edmonton’s first poet laureate. St. James students were also in attendance reading their peace poems. On Sept. 24, CDPI Edmonton launched their Dept. of Peace petition. Stephen Lewis gave the keynote address at the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation AGM on Sept. 24 & 25. On Sept. 27, the Canadian Engaged Buddhism Assoc. presented a Peace theme meditation which the public were welcome to attend. On Oct. 2, a Garlanding Ceremony and the 22nd Annual Banquet was held to commemorate the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.

Montreal – International Day of Peace – Student Observance 2010

With the help of the Dalai Lama Foundation Canada, the City of Montreal, the Winnipeg chapter of CDPI, PEACE in OUR Lifetime, and the National Association of Friendship Centres, “Cercle de Paix – Circle of Peace” was able to send 25 Youth to the UN on Peace Day.

Before the “Peace Bus” left from Montreal, the Youth were received at City Hall by Mayor Gérald Tremblay, and were given a personal gift from the Mayor of Montreal, prior to leaving on their mission.

The Canadian Youth delegation was part of the 192 Youth present in the Rose Garden, holding the flags of all member countries.

They also participated in the “Flag Ceremony” following the ringing of the Peace Bell ceremony, led by Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon.

Canada: Ratify the Cluster Munitions Convention!

Our Expertise is Needed

On August 1st the sound of beating drums was heard around the world as the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) became binding international law. The Convention prohibits the use, production, trade, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions. In addition, State Parties will be responsible for victim assistance and the removal of unexploded cluster munitions. Opened for signature on 03 December 2008 in Oslo, the CCM has currently been signed by 108 countries and ratified by 38. Canada signed the CCM in Oslo, but has not yet ratified it. Given Canada’s history of defending human rights and our leadership role in banning antipersonnel mines, it is disappointing that Canada has not ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions is significant because it recognizes and addresses the problems created during and after a cluster munitions strike. Cluster munitions were first used during the Second World War and were widely developed as a Cold War weapon. They have been used in at least thirty countries including, Afghanistan, Croatia, Georgia, Grenada, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon and Uganda .

A cluster munition itself is a large bomb carrying many submunitions or bomblets. They can be deployed by aircraft or on the ground via multiple launch rocket systems. A single cluster munition can carry hundreds of submunitions. The cluster munition opens in mid-air releasing the submunitions. The submunitions then fall to the ground and are intended to explode on impact. A single cluster munition can cover an area roughly the size of a football field. A cluster munition cannot distinguish between military or civilian targets. A strike in close proximity to a populated area will almost guarantee civilian casualties, and at the same time negatively impacts the ‘hearts and minds’ campaign that is so vital to success in modern warfare.

Furthermore, cluster bomblets have known predictable and statistically unacceptable failure rates that prevent them from detonating upon impact, leaving behind de facto minefields of numerous unexploded bomblets that are extremely dangerous which have enormous economic, social, psychological and lethal impacts long after the conflict is over. Unlike anti-personal mines cluster munitions are designed to pierce armoured vehicles, they are made of metal and contain more explosive power. Cluster sub-munitions are shiny, sometimes brightly coloured and resemble tennis balls and pop cans which makes those which fail to explode on impact especially attractive to children. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimates that in Laos alone there are over 9 million unexploded cluster munitions that have injured or killed 11,000 people.

Arguably, the Convention on Cluster Munitions is the most important humanitarian treaty of this decade. The CCM framework was based on the Ottawa Treaty and lessons learned from banning antipersonnel landmines. The success of the Ottawa Treaty tells us that the CCM will have an impact both immediately and in the long term. It also influences the behaviour of countries which do not immediately join. For example, one of the notable non-signatories of the Ottawa Treaty, the United States, has not used or sold anti-personnel mines since the landmines treaty became international law in 1999. Furthermore the United States is one of the largest funders of mine action. In May of this year, sixty-eight U.S. Senators requested that the Obama administration accede to the Ottawa Treaty. With the CCM entering into force, nation states will come to realize that cluster munitions can no longer be treated as fire and forget weapons.

Making the use of cluster munitions illegal is not a partisan issue that can be painted red, blue or orange. It is a humanitarian issue and humanitarian issues bring us together as Canadians. In the past Canada has played an important role in the world as a middle power mediating the Suez Crisis, assisting in the framework for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and challenging the world to ban the use of anti-personnel mines. Our involvement in these issues has helped shape our identity as Canadians and solidified our reputation as humanitarians.

There is still much work to be done in order to fully realize the goals of the clusters convention implement the Convention after August 1st, in particular getting more countries to join the CCM. Canada can answer this call by taking a leadership role in ratifying the CCM this year, destroying is small stockpile as soon as possible, funding clearance operations, supporting victim assistance programs and ultimately ensuring that the Convention on Cluster Munitions does not become an empty promise.

Interesting peace ideas from the world of business:

Investing in Post-Conflict Zone Startups Might Just Save the World

When Kevin Braithwaite, a serial entrepreneur and director of the incubator RootSpace, tells fellow Silicon Valley types that he’s investing in startups in Lebanon, they usually look at him like he’s crazy. “Most people choke on their drinks and walk away,” he tells Fast Company. As it turns out, they’re the ones who might be crazy: An increasing number of investors are looking to post-conflict zones and fragile states as promising future markets.

It’s admittedly a radical idea, as a panel of experts pointed out at the Social Capital Markets conference in San Francisco last week. The average poverty rate in these countries is 54% — enough to scare any traditionally minded investor away. There are obvious risks like instability, the lack of infrastructure, the high rate of loan defaults, and the massive brain drain caused by the expatriation of the more educated and mobile sector of the population.

But a shift is taking place among investors, and on the governmental level, too. The global cost of conflicts is hundreds of billions; dishing charity cash and sleeping bags to these regions doesn’t change much — but introducing innovation and business skills to the local economy can. In September, President Obama signed a policy directive recognizing for the first time the importance of development to national security. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has implemented credit guarantees, incentive grants to lending institutions, and reduced transaction costs as ways to minimize collateral damage of doing business in fragile states.

“Our focus in post-conflict situations is around two important things: to reduce the risk of return to conflict, and to improve and accelerate the well-being of the conflict zone population,” says David Ferguson, Director of the Global Development Commons at USAID. According to a World Bank study, 40% of conflict zones return to their state of conflict within a decade. “It’s a deadly spiral,” says Ferguson. “Peace companies are a way to break that cycle.”

Post-conflict zones can be a solid financial investment — albeit with slower returns, says Paul van Zyl, former executive secretary of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and CEO of PeaceVentures. “I actually don’t think the places we’re looking at are very risky,” he says. “Kenya has had decades of nepotism and ethnic favoritism that created a toxic conflict, but it’s also a very open economy with billions of dollars worth of goods produced by crazily gifted entrepreneurs.”

One example of a “peace company” is the International Languages and Management Institute in Kigali, Rwanda. When his government announced that they were shifting the national language from French to English by the year 2020, local entrepreneur Alphonse Byusa saw this as an opportunity. With the help of a team of American business school students, Byusa raised $100,000 in investments, partnered with Rwanda’s Private Sector Federation, and built his school. His is just one tiny piece of a larger entrepreneurial initiative in the post-genocidal state; an entrepreneurial collaborative called Rwanda Investment Group raised $25 million in startup capital in 2006 to build entire industries around local cement producers and energy companies. “There are plenty of profitable investment opportunities in Rwanda,” says Benjamin Cox, Project Director of the Babson-Rwanda Entrepreneurship Center. “The country is united by dreams of a better life. The people are no longer Hutu or Tutsi—they’re Rwandese.”

In 2008, Braithwaite co-founded RootSpace, a social entrepreneurship community and incubator based in Beirut. He has since partnered with private donors, media agencies, and grantees to train over 100 young journalists and filmmakers and helps them produce Hibr, the city’s only free youth newspaper, which covers everything from civil war to piracy to white water rafting. “The people here are not only passionate about creating world-changing products and success,” he says. “They also see this as a way to support the development of their country.”

One of the greatest challenges in making profitable businesses in these countries is the lack of innovation and intuitive understanding of global market demand. PeaceVentures’ van Zyl has a solution for this. In a new not-only-for-profit enterprise called 3000 Degrees, he is connecting local businesses in five post-conflict countries with experienced brand managers from the West to sell clothing and homeware made by those who are just rising from the ashes of war — Kenyan jewelry made by Luos and Kikuyus, fabrics made in India by Muslims and Hindus, and organic cotton made in Liberia by women who helped drive Charles Taylor out of office. By supporting businesses that bring people together from different sides of a conflict, you can systematically shift the paradigm from poverty to peace, capital flight to investment, unemployment to employment, he says.

Aid money and donor presence are important, of course, but a heavy hand from outside forces can prevent local institutions from thriving, drive up wages and inflation, and marginalize the legitimacy of local institutions and governments. Instead, it’s important to provide locals with hope through opportunity.

“Within the broad basket that gets labeled ‘conflict countries,’ there are some that have significant opportunities,” van Zyl says. “It’s relatively seldom that you have continual waves of daily conflict in these countries. What spooks us are the highly sporadic big spikes in violence, which cause us to miscalculate risk.”

The new arms race

The world has entered a new arms race totaling $1.5 trillion: $217 for every person on earth.

Over the last decade, Washington has doubled its military budget, fuelling massive military build-ups around the world, from the emerging powers in the South China Seas to the multi-billion-dollar arms deals in the Middle East, begging the question where and when this vicious cycle of rising military expenditures will end.

Aside from the strategic dimension, leaders and pundits have also advanced the economic case for their excessive spending, both in terms of supply and demand.

Apart from the extensive profits from selling arms, the military industry creates thousands of manufacturing jobs in the shadow of the latest international economic crisis and high unemployment.

However, considering that spending on the military takes away from other higher-yielding, less costly and more important sectors of the economy, it is we asked: What justifies this global military addiction? Has the world been duped by the multi-national, military industrial complex?

Joining the discussion are Robert Kaplan from the Center for New American Security, Ellen Laipson, CEO and president at the Stimson Center, Joseph Cirincione, the president of Ploughshares Fund, and Ambassador Richard Butler, the former chief weapons inspector, Iraq.

We highly recommend this fascinating video as it explores the ‘logic’ behind the massive arms expenditures.

For your Christmas list:

Five Books on the Nitty-Gritty of Nonviolence

Nonkilling History:

Shaping Policy with Lessons from the Past The Center for Global Nonkilling is proud to announce the release of its latest book “Nonkilling History: Shaping Policy with Lessons from the Past”, edited by Antony Adolf and featuring chapters by Scott H. Bennett, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Ira Chernus, Martha A. Ebbesen, Chipamong Chowdhury, Ravindra Kumar, Robert Jacob, Israel Sanmartín, Kazuyo Yamane and Howard Zinn. The volume is also intended as a tribute to our Nonkilling History Research Committee coleague Howard Zinn (1922-2010), reproducing his “Nonviolent Direct Action” essay.

The surprise insight from Nonkilling History is that what did not happen explains why humanity lives today. This turns upside down understanding of history as the story of the victory of righteous or reprehensible human violence in struggles to satisfy human aspirations, wants, and needs. The volume brings forward a new perspective for a nonkilling science of history. Such a science will not only help to explain past to present human survival but will inform decisions, individual and collective, to promote future killing-free societies that sustain and celebrate human life. The invitation to explore nonkilling history in this volume will interest not only young and old scholars in history and other academic disciplines, but will surely invite nonkilling questions by general readers as well (Note from Glenn D. Paige’s Foreword).

The book can also be download for free in PDF at: http://nonkilling.org/node/18

Faith Beyond Borders: Doing Justice in a Dangerous World

by Don Mosley with Joyce Hollyday (Abingdon). Mosley, a founding member of Habitat for Humanity, tells the story of Jubilee Partners, a Christian community in Comer, Georgia, where Mosley and others have welcomed more than 3,000 war refugees, teaching peacemaking and reconciliation among former enemies.

Forgiving as We’ve Been Forgiven:

Community Practices for Making Peace, by L. Gregory Jones and Célestin Musekura (InterVarsity). Pastoral leader Musekura’s father was murdered in the Rwandan genocide. Theologian Greg Jones interacts with Musekura’s story to illustrate forgiveness practices in extreme situations and everyday life.

Walk With Us and Listen:

Political Reconciliation in Africa by Charles Villa-Vicencio (Georgetown University). An excellent, detailed review of rebuilding the social fabric through “truth and reconciliation” experiments in the African context by a leader of those commissions.

From the Sanctuary to the Streets:

How the Dreams of One City’s Homeless Sparked a Faith Revolution and Transformed a Community by Wendy R. McCaig (Cascade Books). A refugee from the Enron collapse moves to Richmond, Virginia, and gets drawn into a homeless women’s ministry that dreams of being so much more.

Trustbuilding: An Honest Conversation on Race, Reconciliation, and Responsibility by Rob Corcoran (University of Virginia). Also from the capital of the old South comes this inspiring historical narrative and handbook for community change built around the “Hope in the Cities” project, which models interracial dialogue and urban peacemaking.

September 21 – October 02, 2010

Together with Ottawa peace and justice civil society groups, the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CDPI) and the United Nations Association of Canada – NCR Branch invite you to take part in a 12-day Festival of Peace. The 4TH Annual Peace Festival with the theme of Peace, Unity and Harmony will mark the two important UN International Days of Peace and Nonviolence, September 21 and October 02.

(All events are open to the public, admission is free. Events are subject to change due to weather/unforeseen circumstances.)

P R O G R A M

Special exhibitions with nonviolent peace focus:

*Sept 01- 30: Russian literary figure and peace philosopher Leo N. Tolstoy photograph exhibit at Ottawa Public Library, Laurier and Metcalfe (Koozma Tarasoff, 613-737-5778, kjtarasoff@gmail.com, www.spirit-wrestlers.com)

*Sept 21-Oct02: Dr. Martin Luther King.Jr. “In his Own Words” photograph exhibit at Odawa Native Friendship Centre, 12 Stirling Ave. (At Scott St., just East of Parkdale), (Daniel Stringer, NCPC, 613-792-1431, thestring@rogers.com)

*Sept 21- Oct 02: No-War Paix: An Outdoor Peace Exhibit, 250 Range Rd., Sandy Hill (Terry Stavnyck, 613-565-1915, terry.peace@gmail.com,)

*Sept 25- 26, 1-5pm: “Peace Meditation as Art” Exhibit at TrikaArts851 Gallery, 1390 Clyde Ave., suite.206 (Shiban Raina, srainac001@rogers.com 613-224-9179, www.TRIKArts851.com) adjacent to Denny’s restaurant on Clyde. Free parking at the back.

*Sept. 27-Oct 02: “Gandhi, King, Ikeda: A Legacy of Building Peace” exhibit, Loeb Lounge, Carleton University. (John Callahan, SGI Ottawa, jcallahan@sgicanada.org, 613-232-1100 , www.sgicanada.org, http://sprott.carleton.ca/~callahan/GKI/, and Jagmohan Humar, Mahatma Gandhi Peace Council of Ottawa, jag_humar@carleton.ca, 613-736-0783, www.gandhiji.ca)

PEACE EVENTS:

Tuesday Sept 21, 11am – 2pm, — Launch of UN’s International Day of Peace “Paddle for Peace” and Ottawa Peace Festival by Grandfather William Commanda of the Circle of All Nations on Victoria Island behind Parliament Hill (Romola Thumbadoo, Circle of All Nations,613-599-8385 or 819-449-2668, www.circleofallnations.ca )

Thursday Sept 23: 6.30 pm: NFB’s documentary, “The Peacekeepers” with live music from “Grateful We’re Not Dead” band at Ottawa Public Library auditorium, Laurier and Metcalfe St. (Ottawa Public Library and Iman Ibrahim, CDPI, imanibrahim@rogers.com, 613-276-6764, www.departmentofpeace.ca )

Saturday Sept. 25: 6 – 8 pm – Documentary film :”For the Next 7 Generations: 13 Indigenous Grandmothers” at Prana Shanti Yoga Studio, 52 Armstrong Street, (Cindy Gaudet -Global Heart Beat, cindy.gaudet@gmail.com, 613-601-1647, www.forthenext7generations.com )

Sunday Sept 26: 11 am- 4pm: “Path of Peace” Walk from Peacekeeping Monument to Victoria Island, followed by Arts for Peace open-air music concert (Anita Rizvi and Joe Staresinic, City of Peace Ottawa, arizvi@rogers.com, 613-841-9785),

Monday Sept. 27: 7- 8.30 pm: Panel on “How can world religions advocate peace and promote human rights of all people?” Saint Paul University, 223 Main Street (Qais Ghanem, Dialogue with Diversity, dialoguewithdiversity@rogers.com, 613-265-4654, www.dialoguewithdiversity.com and Brian Strom, CICR, edcicr@ustpaul.ca, 613-235-5800, www.cicr-icrc.ca)

Tuesday Sept 28: 7.30 am: Councillor George Bedard to speak on his Peace Park Proposal at Donna’s Express. 322 Churchill Ave., North of the corner of Scott St. & Churchill Ave. Complimentary breakfast (National Capital Peace Council -Peter Stockdale, 613-852-4527, globalbridge@rogers.com )

Tuesday Sept 28: 6.30-9.30 pm: Music Concert for Peace, Saint Paul University Amphitheatre, 223 Main Street (Sacred Initiatives and CDPI: Daniel Mauro, sacred@sympatico.ca , 613-204-5229)

Wednesday Sept 29: 7-9 pm: Panel on “Conflict and Peace: Views from the Field”, Ottawa Public Library Auditorium at Laurier and Metcalfe (CDPI -CPSC: Iman Ibrahim, 613-276-6764, imanibrahim@rogers.com, www.departmentofpeace.ca and Gord Breedyk, 613-612-0306 gbreedyk@rogers.com , www.civilianpeaceservice.ca)

Thursday Sept 30: 7- 9 pm: Panel on “Dissent and Democracy in Canada: Should Dissent be confined to Peace Activists?”, 233 Gilmour Ave. (Larry Rousseau, rouslar@gmail.com, 613-565-1915, www.no-warpaix.ca)

Friday Oct. 01: 7- 9.30 pm: This Precious Life- My Conscious Creation – Workshop. Public Library, 1574 Merivale Rd. (Vesna Scott, vesna@sympatico.ca, 613-224-5480)

Saturday Oct 02: 10am-4pm: 8th Annual Friends for Peace Day at City Hall – A day full of peace events including music, peace awards, silent auction etc. (Ian Prattis, iprattis@cyberus.ca , 613-726- 0881, www.friendsforpeace.ca )

Saturday Oct 02, 2 – 4pm: Mahatma Gandhi Birthday commemoration, Keynote by Dr. Lawrence Carter, Dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel and Professor of Religion, Morehouse College, Atlanta; Kailash Mital Theatre, Carleton University (Jagmohan Humar, Mahatma Gandhi Peace Council of Ottawa, jag_humar@carleton.ca , 613-736-0783, www.gandhiji.ca )

Note: All Peace Fest activities are public events without admission fee. Also note that all events/dates are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. For further information, please contact Festival convenors: Bill Bhaneja, billbhaneja@rogers.com , 613-244-1979 and Peter Stockdale, globalbridge@rogers.com, 613-863-4527 Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CDPI), and for individual events, respective coordinators identified in the program. Program also posted on www.departmentofpeace.ca, www.civilianpeaceservice.ca, and www.cicr-icrc.ca