Peace Train Canada

By Keith and Bernadette Wyton Address given to the Oct. 28 Parliamentary reception Peace Train Canada (PTC) unites people across the country in renewed commitment to Canada’s first principles for enduring peace, justice, and common security as agreed to in the UN Charter. Peace is the domain of physical, social, mental, and spiritual well-being. It is a  fundamental condition for our survival and the only condition that allows relational harmony and non-violent coexistence for this and future generations. The prosperity of peace can be cultivated in Canada by cultivating a robust centre for peace and justice. This is our one ask of government. A peace centre is necessary for shaping what is called Positive Peace: the attitudes, institutions, and structures that sustain peaceful societies. As the Global Peace Index shows, peaceful societies are marked by wellbeing, happiness, higher GDP growth, lower interest rates, greater political stability, and more resilience to shock...

Members of Parliament from all five parties welcomed Peace Train Canada to Ottawa at a reception on Oct. 28. Ernie Klassen (Liberals) noted he grew up in a Mennonite household where his parents came to Canada from war-torn Europe in a quest for a peaceful life. “I grew up with peace always in the background,” he said. “It’s always been part of my life.” He praised the work of the Peace Train, referencing the song “let their be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” “You are bringing forward a vision for peace on earth to Ottawa,” he said. “I hope in my lifetime that we see peace on earth . . . peace is an option worth pursuing.” Gord Johns (NDP) said that “peace is not a partisan issue . . . we have seen the terrible cost of conflict.” Noting the federal government is increasing its spending on the military, he said “we also need to leading on spending for peace. If we can invest in war, we can surely invest in peace . . . we need your voice louder than ever.” Leslie ...

  The Peace Train Send Off took place Oct. 22 at Canadian Memorial United Church in Vancouver. Here is the video from that event.

The leaders of 29 Canadian Christian denominations and civil society organizations have sent a letter to the Prime Minister expressing “deep concern” over the government’s approach to securing Canada’s economic and national security.   “While we are also concerned about our own national security, our hearts break considering all of those impacted by global conflict, and those who will continue to be impacted as conflicts increase,” the leaders say.   The letter, which was initiated by Mennonite Central Committee Canada, was sent Oct. 26 at the start of International Disarmament Week , an annual week created by the United Nations to promote awareness about disarmament issues.   War, the letter says, “diminishes the human dignity inherent in each person, both those who experience violence and those who are asked to carry it out. We write to remind you of the core principle from the moral foundation of our Christian faith: that we are called to love our neighbours, a...

By John Kidder   VIA Train 2 departed Vancouver for Toronto on Oct. 23. We—my partner Elizabeth (MP Elizabeth May) and me—are on board with 40 others on the Peace Train, headed for Ottawa. For us, the train is far and away our preferred way to travel. Also, it's my birthday tomorrow, so this is also a bit of a present.   And there’s a bit of irony. I rode this train from Vancouver to Montréal in 1964, 62 years ago when I was 16, with six other guys from B.C., on our way to Collège Militaire Royal (CMR) in St. Jean, Québec.   In those days, one could get a very good degree at the Canadian military colleges, and one had only to serve three years in the services in return. So, many young guys (only males in those unenlightened days) applied, 1,200 or so in B.C.   Only seven of us made the cut.   And so we went on across the country, picking up young men at every stop, going off for training as officers and gentlemen, so that we would be able properly to kil...

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...