Agnes Macphail contributed to peace as a champion for women’s rights, prison reform, seniors’ pensions and gender equality. #Canada150

 “Agnes Macphail’s approach was very much equal rights, which is the fact that women deserved the vote not because they’re angels and not because they’re special, but because they are people with those rights, and equal rights are an end in themselves. She went into politics for what she could do, not what politics could do for her.”       –Will Ferguson

Agnes Macphail (1890 – 1954) was the first female elected to the House of Commons. She served from 1921 to 1940 and later as one of the first two women elected to the Ontario Provincial Legislature from 1943-1945. She represented ridings in Toronto and Grey-Bruce.

Prior to her political life in the early 1900s, Agnes was growing up in rural Ontario surrounded by farmers talking over the issues of the day. While living in Sharon, Ontario, she was caught up in the increasing enthusiasm of the agrarian community who were feeling that their needs were inadequately represented in Parliament. It wasn’t long before Agnes became involved in local farmer’s organizations and soon joined the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO). The war effort meant Canadian farmers were urged to produce crops and foodstuff as well as give up their young men to conscription. By 1917, their frustrations had peaked; 5,000 farmers travelled to Ottawa demanding reform. The UFO rose to meet that demand by formally entering politics in 1919 with a landslide vote. Agnes Macphail’s represented her County by representing farmers honestly and clearly, demanding that their hard work and productivity be recognized and valued accordingly.

Macphail worked for two separate parties and promoted her ideas through column-writing, activist organizing, and legislation. The issues that she championed included pensions for seniors and workers’ rights and she was successful in forcing Ontario to adopt its first equal-pay legislation in 1951. Macphail was also the first Canadian woman delegate to the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland where she passionately supported disarmament.

In her honour, Agnes Macphail’s name has been attached to schools, awards, a public speaking contest, parks, playgrounds, a youth centre, a food bank, a townhome development, an apartment, a cairn and bronze bust, and a region in Ontario.

In a 2005 contest, Macphail was voted as the Greatest Ontario Woman and in 2015, she appears in an episode of Murdoch Mysteries as a supporter of suffragettes.

Editor’s bonus content: Here is Agnes’ Canadian Heritage Minute on youtube.

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Social Assistance contributes to peace by being a support to reduce the impact of poverty for many Canadians. #Canada150

In Canada, social assistance programs include services provided by all levels of government, including: health care; education; housing; unemployment insurance; income supplements; and supports for the disabled and seniors.

Before the Great Depression, most social services were provided by religious charities and other private groups. Changing government policy between the 1930s and 1960s saw the emergence of a welfare state. Most programs from that era are still in use, although many were scaled back during the 1990s as government priorities shifted towards reducing debt and deficit.

All provinces in Canada provide universal, publicly funded healthcare for those services which are considered “medically necessary”, with their costs partially subsidized by the federal government. Services which are not “listed” (covered by a provincial insurance plan), or have been “delisted” (removed from the plan) may be purchased privately.

In Canada, provinces and territories are responsible for their elementary and secondary schools. Education is compulsory up to the age of 16 in most provinces, 17 and 18 in others. Both elementary and secondary education is provided at a nominal cost. Post-secondary schooling is not free, but is subsidized by the federal and provincial governments. Financial assistance is available through student loans and bursaries.

All provinces maintain income support programs.  The purpose of these programs is to alleviate extreme poverty by providing a monthly payment to people with little or no income. The rules for eligibility and the amount given vary widely between the provinces.  The resulting disparities and short-falls have led to a widening call for a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG).

The basic income idea is to ensure everyone sufficient income to meet basic needs and live with dignity, regardless of work status. In reality, in pilots and in current programs, it can take different forms. In recent months, Canadian political parties have adopted resolutions supporting basic income, prominent mayors have declared leadership on the issue, municipal governments have endorsed it, the government of Quebec has declared its intent to move in the direction of a basic income and the Ontario government announced it is planning a pilot. The federal government appointed a minister who has written on the subject and is now charged with developing a poverty reduction strategy. The federal government is also promising evidence-based policy and greater cooperation with other orders of government, a big change from the politics of the last decade.

Interested in working to improve social assistance in Canada? We recommend the Basic Income Canada Network.

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Sally Armstrong contributes to peace through her work as a journalist and human/women’s rights advocate. #Canada150

Armstrong is an award winning author, journalist and human rights activist, a three-time winner of the Amnesty International Canada media award and the holder of numerous honorary degrees.  She also is a member of the Order of Canada. Armstrong was the first journalist to bring the story of the women of Afghanistan to the world and was relentless when it came to exposing the abuse of women whether on an American university campus or a village in a war zone.

Michele Landsberg, author of Writing the Revolution describes her this way:  “Striding into Taliban-held Afghanistan with a chador over her six-foot frame, playing high-fives with a traumatized child rape survivor in the Congolese jungle, marching with the defiant grandmothers in Swaziland, she explores the darkest reaches of women’s experience and brings back astonishing news of hope, challenge and change. From Tahrir Square to LA, Armstrong discovers that the sisters are doing it for themselves—and revolutionizing the world.”

In 2011, for example, Armstrong travelled to Kenya to interview 160 child rape victims, some as young as three, who were suing the government for not protecting them, and for failing to uphold the 2010 Kenyan constitution’s promise of greater equality for women and girls. First, Armstrong spoke to 11-year-old Emily, who told her about being raped by her own grandfather; then to Charity, who was 11, and her sister Susan, who was six. For these latter two, it was their father.

“When I leave these places, their stories play on the back of my eyelids. I wonder how they’re doing. Often with my stories I get to go back and see them again.” She explains the issues in her powerful but compact style: Emily’s grandfather raped her believing it would cure him of HIV/AIDS. “It made me sad, but more than that, it made me enraged.”

That anger over injustice has propelled Armstrong’s decades-spanning career sharing the tragic and hopeful stories of women in conflict zones.  Often the backstory shows her passion and determination to write, a battle that parallels the ones her sources must endure: while these women fight for their lives and for control over their bodies, she continues to fight to tell their stories wherever she can.

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James Woodsworth contributed to peace by going to great lengths for workers’ rights, social justice, and peace. #Canada150

James Shaver Woodsworth (born Etobicoke, Ont 29 July 1874; died Vancouver 21 Mar 1942) was a Methodist minister, social worker, and politician. As first leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), he was the best known of the reform-minded Social Gospel ministers and led many of them into the politics of democratic socialism. Woodsworth moved to Brandon, Man, in 1885 where his father became superintendent of Methodist missions in the Northwest. Ordained in 1896, he spent 2 years as a Methodist circuit rider in Manitoba and a further 2 years studying at Victoria College and Oxford.

Observing the grim results of industrial capitalism in Canada and Britain, Woodsworth concluded that his church’s stress upon personal salvation was wrong. Moving from middle-class pulpits to a city mission, All People’s, Winnipeg, he worked with immigrant slum dwellers 1904-13. At the same time he wrote extensively, expounding the “social gospel” – a creedless movement calling for establishment of the Kingdom of God “here and now.” By 1914 he had become a controversial supporter of trade-union collective bargaining and an ardent democratic socialist – on Fabian and British Labour Party lines.

He was also adamantly pacifist, seeing war as a product of capitalist and imperial competition, and he was fired from a governmental social-research position in 1917 for openly opposing conscription In 1918 he resigned the ministry in protest against church support of the war. To support his young family he joined a longshoremen’s union and worked for a year on the Vancouver docks.

In June 1919 Woodsworth was arrested in Winnipeg and charged with seditious libel for editorials written during the Winnepeg General Strike. Following the arrest of 10 strike leaders on June 17 and “Bloody Saturday,” June 21, when a nonviolent protest parade was broken up by mounted police and soldiers.

When the Depression struck, they joined with various labour and socialist groups to found a federal socialist party in 1932, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), with Woodsworth as its first leader. Woodsworth said: “I am convinced that we may develop in Canada a distinctive type of Socialism. I refuse to follow slavishly the British model or the American model or the Russian model. We in Canada will solve our problems along our own lines.”

Woodsworth became a master of parliamentary procedure and used the Commons as a public platform. In so doing he helped establish a multiparty political system and his own reputation as the “conscience of Canada”.

In 1926 he demonstrated the worth of the parliamentary process when he bargained his vote (and that of one colleague) in return for a promise from the politically insecure PM Mackenzie King to enact an old age pension plan. Introduced in 1927, the plan was the cornerstone of Canada’s social-security system.

For Woodsworth the tragedy of the Depression was increasingly overshadowed by the impending horror of WWII and he gave his attention to Canada’s international position. Inside the CCF he faced the growing concern of some of his colleagues that Hitler’s threat could only be met by force. Believing that war breeds only war he strove to persuade the government to declare Canada’s right to neutrality. He failed, as he did in the CCF National Council in Sept 1939 which gave limited support to a Canadian declaration of war.

Mary Gordon contributed to peace by creating Roots of Empathy, which teaches empathy through regular classroom visits from a baby and parent. #Canada150

“Caring for a baby helps children find the humanity in themselves and others.”

Mary Gordon is an award-winning social entrepreneur, educator, author, child advocate and parenting expert who has created programs informed by the power of empathy.

In 1996 she created the Roots of Empathy program in Ontario. Roots of Empathy is an evidence-based classroom program that reduces levels of aggression among schoolchildren by raising social/emotional competence and increasing empathy. Her not for profit organization of the same name now offers programs in every province of Canada, New Zealand, the USA, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, Germany and Switzerland.

In 2006, the Dalai Lama expressed the opinion that programs like Roots of Empathy will build world peace. In 2008, Roots of Empathy was one of three winners in an international competition from Changemakers for programs that help youth at risk. Also in 2008, National Chief Phil Fontaine and the Assembly of First Nations passed a resolution to support and endorse Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy in First Nations schools across Canada.

Roots of Empathy is now also in classrooms in New Zealand, USA, Germany, Switzerland, Wales, England, Ireland and Scotland. Mary has received the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador (2012) and an Honourary Doctor of Laws from Memorial University (2015). Her brother is journalist, Gwynne Dyer.

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Dan Heap contributed to peace by tirelessly campaigning for social justice, against war, poverty and homelessness.#Canada150

Mr. Heap began his career as an Anglican minister but chose to forgo church ministry and align himself with the Worker-Priest movement. He first ran for Toronto City Council in 1972, winning several elections, and then ran federally for the NDP. He represented his Toronto riding for 12 years. After his retirement, he continued his work as an activist.

A co-founder of Homes Not Hostels and the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee, Heap was arrested in 2000 with two others attempting an act of conscience: removing the sword from the cross outside St. Paul’s Anglican Church, to push the Church to oppose unjust wars.

“I knew Dan for 30 years and was always impressed with his ability to slice through BS. Whether as an MP advocating for refugee rights, a fellow arrestee blockading Bay Street or pouring blood on the steps of the legislature to protest Jim Flaherty’s killer cuts under the Harris regime, he was always searching for new ways to transform our social institutions. Both he and his wife, Alice, never failed to listen to those far younger and less experienced than they. It only came up accidentally in conversation once that Dan had joined marchers responding to Dr. King’s call to go to Selma in 1965. In our last conversation, he said Canada would never be a worthy nation if it did not deal honestly with its ongoing colonial crimes against First Nations. He was a real truth-seeker.”        -Matthew Behrens, Homes Not Bombs

When he died in 2014 his son posted a message describing him as a “Pacifist, socialist, worker-priest, marxist Anglican, trade-unionist, city councillor, member of parliament, civilly disobedient marcher for human rights. Wearer of red shirts, cyclist, paddler of canoes, singer of songs.”

Editor’s Bonus Material: This personal tribute to Dan Heap, as shared by Ellie Kirzner for NOW Toronto, really captures the feel and greater context of what it was like to work with him over many of those years.

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Mary Two Axe Early contributed to peace by campaigning for equal rights for Indigenous women.  #Canada150

“Indian women and men should enjoy the same rights and privileges in matters of marriage and property as Canadians.”

Mary Two Axe Early, a Mohawk from Kahnawake, worked tirelessly to overturn terms in the Indian Act that discriminated on the basis of sex.

When she married a non-status man, Mary lost her own status under the Indian Act.  She could no longer live on the reserve, own land there, take part in political life, vote or be buried on the land where she was born. In contrast, men who married non-status women were permitted to keep their full status and pass it on to their children.

Early insisted that “Indian women and men should enjoy the same rights and privileges in matters of marriage and property as Canadians” and established the Equal Rights for Native Women association in 1967 to work for gender equality. In 1971, it contributed to forming a national organization, The Indian Rights for Indian Women association. (Later, 13 of these and similar groups would aggregate to form the Native Women’s Association of Canada, which is going strong and campaigning on similar issues today.)

The changes she demanded were put into place 20 years later in 1985 when parliament passed Bill C-31. This bill brought the Indian Act into accord with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Thousands of First Nations women who had married non-status or non-Native persons had their status and membership rights restored. Mary was the first to have her status reinstated.

In recognition of this achievement, Early was awarded a Governor General’s Award, an Honorary Doctorate of Law from York University, and a National Aboriginal Achievement Award.

Mary is, of course, just one of many Indigenous women who have done incredible work for equality in recent history. For further reading, we suggest this timeline of Indigenous Women’s Rights in Canada on the RiseUp Feminist Archive.

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Sheila Watt-Cloutier contributed to peace as an advocate for the environmental and human rights of Inuit around the globe.#Canada150

Sheila Watt-Cloutier is an environmental and human rights activist and author. She speaks with passion and urgency on the environment, the economy, foreign policy, global health, and sustainability—not as separate concerns, but as a deeply interconnected whole.

In 2007, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work in showing the impact global climate change has on human rights. She is a recipient of the Aboriginal Achievement Award, the UN Champion of the Earth Award, and the Norwegian Sophie Prize. She is also an Officer of the Order of Canada.

She has been a political representative for Inuit at the regional, national and international levels including as International Chair for Inuit Circumpolar Council. She wrote The Right to Be Cold: One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet, published in 2015 about the effects of global warming on Inuit communities. The book was nominated for the 2016 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.

“For the first time in history, my community has had to use air conditioners. Imagine that, air conditioners in the Arctic.”

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Peter Gzowski contributed to peace as a journalist, connecting Canadians to each other with his characteristic curiosity and warmth in his interviews.#Canada150

Peter John Gzowski (d. January 24, 2002) was a Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter, most famous for his work on the CBC radio shows This Country in the Morning and then Morningside. His first regular radio show was Radio Free Friday, 1969–1970. Known to some as “Canada’s best listener”, his contributions to Canadian media were considered by many to deeply understand and express Canada’s cultural identity.  Gzowski wrote books, hosted television shows, and worked at a number of newspapers and at Maclean’s magazine. He was known for a friendly and warm interviewing style.

In 1971 he became host of radio the CBC’s This Country in the Morning and from 1976 to 1978 host of television show 90 Minutes Live . In 1982 he returned to his former morning radio program, which had by now been renamed Morningside, where he remained until 1997. In 1986, Gzowski held the first fundraising golf tournament for literacy, a cause that was very important to him. That tournament has evolved and is now held in every province and territory of Canada and has raised more than $13-million for volunteer-based literacy programs.

His contributions to peace, in way, may best be expressed by the many CBC listeners who shared their feelings about his work after his passing:

“It has been said that there is no one in this world who is irreplaceable. Perhaps. But, I know the genuineness, warmth, and empathy of Peter Gzowski as a broadcaster and interviewer, will not come our way again.” – Lorraine Cantile, Ottawa

“He allowed people to bring the heart and soul of their community to other Canadians. He made me doubt the apathy of Canadians.He cajoled us into learning and caring about each other. He is the thread that bound the pieces of this crazy quilt we call Canada together.His curiosity about us was infectious. A true example of how all of us could be better Canadians. It starts with just listening..warm-hearted honest listening. Thanks Peter …for making me a better Canadian.” – Heather Morrison, Halifax

“It takes a special, incredible man to teach his listeners so much, to unite his listeners, and to inspire his listeners. I always thought that he had the best job in the country, to have the opportunity to meet and get to know some many people, so many Canadians. He was clearly a very intelligent individual, able to converse with a wide variety of people and on a wide variety of topics, and yet make every topic accessible to the listener. He was so gentle and comforting. I will never forget his voice.” – Catherine Nicol

Bonus content: Listen to this archived CBC interview with Vicki Gaboreau in which Peter recollects what he calls his “most uncomfortable interviews”.

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“The best defence of peace is not power, but the removal of the causes of war, and international agreements which will put peace on a stronger foundation, than the terror of destruction.”

Lester B. Pearson contributed to peace by laying the conceptual framework for UN Peacekeeping during the Suez Crisis. #Canada150

The 1956 Suez Crisis was a military and political confrontation in Egypt that threatened to divide the United States and Great Britain, potentially harming the Western military alliance that had won the Second World War. Lester B. Pearson, who later became prime minister of Canada, won a Nobel Peace Prize for using the world’s first, large-scale United Nations peacekeeping force to de-escalate the situation. – Canadian Encyclopedia

Pearson was Canada’s foremost diplomat of the 1950s and 1960s, and formulated its basic post-WW-11 foreign policy. A skilled politician, he rebuilt the Liberal Party, and as prime minister strove to maintain Canada’s national unity. Under his leadership, the government implemented the Canada Pension Plan, a universal Medicare system, and a new flag.

As a solution to the Suez Crisis he proposed the establishment of The United Nations Emergency Force. He is considered to be the father of the concept of international peacekeeping.  He was awarded the the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his role in resolving this crisis.

“The choice, however, is as clear now for nations as it was once for the individual: peace or extinction.”

Some in Canada and Britain objected to his perceived lack of support for Britain. In the 1957 Canadian election, he and the Liberal party of the day faced accusations that they had betrayed Britain — still regarded by many Canadians as the Mother Country. Pearson defended his position as the best way to stop the fighting before it spread. The veracity of the criticism they received is thought to have played a part in the Liberal government’s defeat in the following national election.

His work became the basis of U.N. peacekeeping around the world.

“It would be especially tragic if the people who most cherish ideals of peace, who are most anxious for political cooperation on a wider than national scale, make the mistake of underestimating the pace of economic change in our modern world.”

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