Living free from the threat of armed violence is a basic human need. It is a precondition for human development, dignity and well-being. Providing for the human security of their citizens is a core responsibility of governments.

The full proposal can be downloaded here (PDF):
CDPI Full Proposal October 2009

The Canadian Department of Peace Initiative (CDPI)

The CDPI is committed to the establishment of a Cabinet-level Minister of Peace and Department of Peace within the Government of Canada, as well as other peacebuilding activities within the federal government. In support of this initiative, there are now chapters in most major cities across Canada, and the endorsement of many prominent individuals, including two of Canada’s foremost peacebuilders, the Hon. Lloyd Axworthy and the Hon. Doug Roche. More than 30 peace and justice organizations in civil society have endorsed the CDPI, representing a million Canadians. We are also part of a growing international movement for departments of peace, the Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments of Peace, www.mfp-dop.org , numbering more than 35 countries. Nepal declared a Minister of Peace and Reconstruction in 2007 and Costa Rica declared a Minister of Justice and Peace, September, 2009.

The mandate envisioned for the Minister of Peace is to reinvigorate Canada’s role as a peacekeeper and peacebuilder as follows:

1. Develop early detection and rapid response processes to deal with emerging conflicts and establish systemic responses to post-conflict demobilization, reconciliation and reconstruction
2. Lead internationally to abolish nuclear, biological, chemical weapons, to reduce conventional weapon arsenals and to ban the weaponization of space
3. Implement the UN Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace (1999) to safeguard human rights and enhance the security of persons and their communities
4. Implement UN Resolution 1325 on the key role played by women in the wide spectrum of peacebuilding work
5. Establish a Civilian Peace Service that, with other training organizations, will recruit, train and accredit peace professionals and volunteers to work at home and abroad, as an alternative to armed intervention.
6. Address issues of violence in Canada by promoting nonviolent approaches that encourage community involvement and responsibility such as Restorative Justice, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)
7. Support the development of peace education at all levels including post-secondary peace and conflict studies
8. Promote the transition from a war-based to a peace-based economy.

The chart above is available to download in legible PDF format.

Some Recent Milestones

A Private Members Bill, the Department of Peace Bill, C-447, passed First Reading in Parliament on September 30, 2009, moved by Bill Siksay, (NDP) and seconded by Jim Karygiannis (Liberal).

The 37–member NDP caucus supports, in principle, the creation of a Department of Peace (DoP) and a NDP-MP is preparing a Private Members Bill calling for a Department of Peace (May 2009). Some 24 Liberal members are in support, and the National Green Party supports a DoP in their policy statement. Our proposal has been presented to the Liberal Caucus on Canada in the World, April, 2008, at its invitation.

Many prominent Canadians support a DoP in Canada, led by the Hon. Lloyd Axworthy and the Hon. Doug Roche, who sent open letters to all party leaders calling for a Department of Peace during the last two federal elections. More than 30 Canadian civil society organizations, most of them national in scope, have endorsed the initiative, representing approximately one million Canadians.

The rationale for a DoP revolves around four key areas where greater federal government response is urgently required:

1. Increasing the coherence and coordination of peace-related policies in the federal government
2. Rebuilding Canada’s role in international peacebuilding, UN peacekeeping and peace diplomacy, including disarmament
3. De-escalating violent conflict, the risk of nuclear weapon use and the proliferation of these weapons
4. Reversing the recent trend towards militarism as manifested by the growth of military budgets and Canada’s war-fighting posture in the world.

At the present time, the government’s foreign policy in the peace and security field revolves around the 3 Ds – Defence, Development and Diplomacy. Project Ploughshares has expanded this to 5 Ds to include Democracy and Disarmament in what they call the “Security Envelope.”

In Fiscal Year 2006-7, Canada spent a full 75% on defence with less than 9% on diplomacy, democracy and disarmament. This is a generous estimate, since diplomacy includes the overall costs of DFAIT overseas missions ( embassies, consulates and related HQ costs), inflating the number and does not reflect any actual activity in peace diplomacy.

Moreover, with the government’s “Canada First” Defence Policy, there will be a massive increase of military expenditures from $18B in 2008-9 to over $30B in 2027-8 for a total commitment of $490B, much of this going to combat readiness and interoperability with US and NATO forces. At the same time, there has been no corresponding increase in the areas of peacebuilding or UN peacekeeping, rather we have seen a significant decline in these areas. as described above. One modest exception is START, the Stabilization and Reconstruction Taskforce, the major peacebuilding thrust within DFAIT. Beyond the $235M mentioned, its budget is unknown, but is tiny when compared to the estimated $18B cost for prosecuting the Afghan war alone.

There are increased opportunities today for peacebuilding in the areas of nuclear disarmament, UN peacekeeping, civilian participation, and domestic peace. Canada, in much of the post-World War 2 period, through the 90s, has played a major role in UN peacekeeping and peace diplomacy, but these roles have languished since. It is time for the reinvigoration of Canada’s role as a prosperous, middle power with extensive experience and respect in these fields.

The Minister of Peace would provide the essential focal point for peacebuilding in government and end the highly diffuse nature of peacebuilding at the present time. The Minister would be a voice in Cabinet who could fundamentally alter the nature of debate and decision-making towards a culture of peace and non-violence both on domestic and foreign issues and provide for the long-range thinking required to address the root causes of violence. The Minister’s Department of Peace would serve as a sensor for the early detection and for nonviolent intervention before conflict erupts into violence and serve as an incubator of creative solutions to the root causes of violent conflict.

The Human Security Report, www.humansecurityreport.info, September, 2005 (with 2006 and 2007 updates), the first such global status report on human security issues, provides a critical rationale for departments of peace. It states that, despite important gains overall in the human security situation, “the international community’s successes in reducing armed conflict worldwide … have been achieved despite inadequate resources, ad hoc planning, inappropriate mandates (in the case of UN peace operations) and lack of support from the countries most able to help. With additional resources, more appropriate mandates, and a greater commitment to conflict prevention and peacebuilding, far more could be achieved. Effective policy … requires better understanding of global and regional security trends – and why some conflict prevention and mitigation strategies succeed while others fail (p.10).”

This is precisely the framework within which a Department of Peace would function, fulfilling a major gap in policy and program formation that exists presently in Canada. As the lead department, it would coordinate a whole-of-government approach to both international and domestic peacebuilding and act as a bridge for the implementation of UN resolutions between our UN mission and the Canadian government.

Citizens in more than 35 countries, including the USA, UK, Japan and Australia are calling for departments of peace. As we approach the end of the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World in 2010, we call upon Canada to declare a Minister of Peace as a major contribution by Canadians to a culture of peace at home and abroad.

written May 2009
for further information, contact Dr. Saul Arbess at saul.arbess@departmentofpeace.ca

“Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means”