Meet the Peace Trainers: For James Toews it’s time for a new Peace Train song









Like for other Peace Train riders, Cat Steven’s ‘Peace Train’ song is very familiar for James Toews, a pastor and boomer from Nanaimo, B.C.

It hit the airwaves in 1971, another challenging time in world affairs. Despite that, James remembers it as a time when there was also a “deep and persistent hope that a new age was dawning. The song ‘Peace Train’ spoke to that.”

Now James hopes another Peace Train—not a song, this time, but the Nov. 15-22 Peace Train from Vancouver to Ottawa—will spark another round of hope for a better world.

There are many challenges today, James said, but that also means “it’s time for a new ‘Peace Train’ to create a world that should not accept war as the norm, a world where Canada can reclaim its place as one of the world’s peace keeper nations.”

The goal of the Peace Train is to ask the Canadian government to establish a Centre of Excellence for Peace and Justice focused on research, education, and training in conflict resolution, diplomacy, and peace operations. More information can be found at https://www.peacetraincanada.com


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