Peace Train Canada

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...

  It’s almost here! The Peace Train starts its journey on Oct. 22. A total of 42 Peace Trainers are headed to Ottawa, most of them by train from Vancouver.   Of that total, 30 are from B.C., nine from Winnipeg, three from Edmonton and one from Nova Scotia.   While there, they will attend an all-party reception with Members of Parliament sponsored by MPs Gord Johns (NDP), Elizabeth May (Greens) and Dave Epp (Conservative); visit their own MPs in their Ottawa offices; participate in a peace education workshop, a community dialogue on peace education, and a panel presentation on “Canada’s Military Spending Spree: The Real Cost to Canadians.”   A full schedule is below. People in the Ottawa area who want more information about any of the events below can contact the Peace Train at info@peacetraincanada.com   Full Schedule   Oct 22, 7-8:30 PM: Peace Train Send Off, Canadian Memorial United Church 1825 W. 16 Ave, Vancouver. Oct 23, 2-3 PM. Peace Trai...

  For decades, peacekeeping has been part of Canada’s identity — internationally and at home.   Through the Cold War years, Canada provided about 10 per cent of the 800,000 or so peacekeepers with the United Nations. In 1993, there were over 4,000 Canadian peacekeepers deployed around the world. Altogether, over 125,000 Canadians have served with the United Nations as peacekeepers since the 1950s.   Today, however, there are only about 60 Canadians serving as peacekeepers, and the federal government is reducing the number of missions where they serve — a decision made to “better align CAF resources with current defence priorities,” according to the Department of National Defence.   On Sept. 16, defence experts convened to further explore this shift in peacekeeping. Titled “A Middle Power Adrift? Canada and the Future of Peacekeeping,” the Barton Dialogues webinar brought together experts to discuss the challenges and evolution of peacekeeping in a fragmented an...