Peace Train Canada

Kathleen Wallace-Deering of Coquitlam, B.C. is on the Peace Train for the second time. From 1980-85 she was a staff person with Project  Ploughshares (a project of the Canadian Council of Churches), and from 1997 to 2000 she was the first Diocesan staff person for peace, social justice and environmental concerns. In 2024 she wrote the following for her Anglican diocesan newsletter.   “Now is the time, this is the place, and we are the people”. This stirring call to social action by Herbert O’Driscoll, in a sermon he gave around 1980 when he was Dean of Vancouver’s Christ Church Cathedral, has shaped my spirituality and life-long ministry as an Anglican layperson working for peace, social justice and environmental stewardship.   Forty years ago, at the height of the Cold War when the threat of nuclear seemed imminent, many Anglicans and other Christians were visible and vocal, carrying banners and singing among the multitude of 115,000 people walking over the Burrard Stree...

  From Oct. 28-31, over 40 people from B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia will be in Ottawa with Peace Train Canada to call on the federal government to give more attention to peace and peacekeeping.   Why are they going? Find their thoughts below.   Walter Dorn of Toronto is a Professor of Defence Studies at Royal Military College & Canadian Forces College. A big supporter of peacekeeping, he is going on the Peace Train to “support peace and Canada's role in creating it.   His message for the Prime Minister about the need for a centre to promote peace and peacekeeping? “Canada needs a centre where military, police and civilians can train together. The centre can also do research and coordination to support Canada's role in peace and peacekeeping.”   Lori Matties is from Winnipeg. This is her third trip to Ottawa with Peace Train Canada. She is going on the train because “we live in a time when most people want to live peacefully, yet...

From Oct. 28-31, over 40 people from B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia will be in Ottawa with Peace Train Canada to call on the federal government to give more attention to peace and peacekeeping.   Why are they going? Find some thoughts below.   Margaret Neuhaus of Penticton, B.C. is going on the Peace Train for the first time. For her, “it’s important that the whole of Canada, through our Parliament, emphasize that war and negativity never solves our differences. We have to listen to both sides, negotiate and mediate a peaceful life for everyone.”   Rev. Jeff Rock is the Coordinating Minister at Canadian Memorial United Church and Centre for Peace. He is also going on the Peace Train for the first time.   “I grew up in the 80s when the blue berets of the peacekeepers were a source of deep pride and the legacy of Pearson and peace was fresh,” he says. “Canada is at a crossroads, and I want to help raise up another generation of peace activis...

  Want to send a postcard to the Prime Minister about the need for Canada to do more about peace and peacekeeping? Want to invite your friends to do it, too?   Now you can! The Peace Train has a postcard you can download and print to do just that.   The message on the postcard:   Dear Prime Minister Carney,   We call on the Canadian government to establish and fund an independent, integrated Canadian Centre for Peace and Justice focused on research, policy, diplomacy, peace education, and training for Canadian civilians, military personnel, and the international community, as a fundamental part of Canada’s increased commitment to defence and security.   You can find the postcard, and instructions for how to print it, here.

For Lynn Malinsky of Kelowna, B.C., this is her first on the Peace Train. She will be boarding it in Kamloops.   She’s making the trip because “I want to join a group that believes promoting peace is a worthy cause, given the political disruption in Alberta, the current American politics, and the state of the world in general. I want to walk the talk and increase awareness of the necessity to promote peace,” she says.   Her message to the Prime Minister is that the creation of a peace centre  “will demonstrate the government’s commitment to promoting peace and provide the opportunity for engaging Canadian citizens in increasing awareness across the country.”   Michael Elliott of Vancouver is a member of Canadian Memorial Church United Church and a member of the Vancouver Buddhist Temple. As he prepares to go on the Peace Train, he recalls a story shared by a priest at the Temple.   The priest had visited a temple that had a sign in front a sign which r...

Over 40 people from B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia will be taking the Peace Train to Ottawa to call on the federal government to give more attention to peace and peacekeeping.   Why are they going? Find some thoughts below. For Jan Teversham of Bamfield, B.C., this is the second time she has been on the Peace Train. She will be boarding the train in Vancouver.   Jan is going on the Peace Train because this is a time of great uncertainty in the world, a time when it is easy for people to feel discouraged and disheartened.   “The very process of making the effort to travel right across our country to get to the government is SOMETHING for me rather than NOTHING,” she said. “I will be with like minded people, and maybe we will get results this time! Together we can hope.”   Her message to the Prime Minister about the need for a peace centre that promotes peacekeeping is that we need a “means of solving conflict without resorting to war . . . C...