“Avi” Lewis contributes to peace through his work as an activist,  broadcaster and documentary film producer. #Canada150

Avram David “Avi” Lewis is the creator of a number of thought-provoking documentaries and TV content on political and current issues. He is the former host of the Al Jazeera English show Fault Lines and former host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current-affairs programs CounterSpin and On the Map. He has served as MuchMusic’s political specialist, providing extensive special events coverage to engage youth in the political process, for which he received a Gemini Award.

He comes by his political inclinations and activities naturally. Avi is the grandson of former federal NDP leader, David Lewis, and the son of politician and diplomat, Stephen Lewis, and journalist and peace activist, Michele Landsberg. Lewis and his wife, social activist Naomi Klein, collaborate on many social justice issues through their writing and film-making.

Lewis directed the 2015 feature-length documentary This Changes Everything, which finished second in the audience voting, for the documentary category at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

“Find an organization, shoot them an email, call them up, find them on Facebook and say “Hey, I want to volunteer.” And that first step could lead to a whole life of engagement. It could be a pretty exciting ride.”

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Gwynne Dyer contributes to peace as a writer, historian and film maker, focusing on war, climate change and international relations. #Canada150

“We’re not doomed. We’re just in big trouble.”

Gwynne Dyer’s newspaper column on international affairs is published in 175 papers in 45 countries. Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Dyer joined the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve at 16. He earned a B.A. in history from Memorial University of Newfoundland, an M.A. in military history from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and a Ph.D. in military and Middle Eastern history at King’s College London. Dyer has served in the Canadian, American and British naval reserves. He was a senior lecturer in war studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Dyer began his journalism career in 1973, writing articles for British newspapers on the Arab-Israeli conflict. In 1983 he gained notoriety for his documentary film miniseries War.

“Only in the past century have large numbers of people begun to question the basic assumption of civilized societies that war is inevitable and often useful …. (War?) Good riddance.”

The third part of the series entitled The Profession of Arms was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. He has produced several other film documentaries as well as a number of books and radio documentary programs. Dyer is a recipient of the Order of Canada.

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War Artists and Photographers contribute to peace through their creation of evocative images which challenge our thinking about war. #Canada150

Serving in both official and civilian capacities, Canadians have generated important visual records of Canadian involvement in war. Using painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, digital installations, film, poetry, choreography, music and more, they have created profound renderings of war.

The many works produced by both visual artists and photographers record several aspects of war, including the individual’s experience of war, whether allied or enemy, service or civilian, military or political, social or cultural. The truths revealed by these artists and their work embrace the causes, course and consequences of conflict and though often seen as an essentially educational tool, now is appreciated more broadly as a culturally independent act of witness to such tragic events.

War artists included a select group who were employed on contract, or commissioned to produce specific works during the First World War, the Second World War and select military actions in the post-war period. This group includes members of the still operational Canadian Forces Artist Program.

“What each of you achieved on the artist’s canvas is more profound and more powerful than any words can express.” Hon. Greg Thompson, Minister of Veterans Affairs

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The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms contributes to peace as a big step towards ensuring basic rights & freedoms for all.#Canada150

The Charter came into effect under the Canada Act which repatriated the Canadian Constitution in 1982. It enshrined individual rights and brought them under judicial review rather than parliamentary review. It was recognized that all Canadians have the right to have the Supreme Court examine cases where rights may have been violated or laws are believed to violate individual rights.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Charter guarantees certain political rights to Canadian citizens and civil rights of everyone in Canada from the policies and actions of all areas and levels of the government. It is designed to unify Canadians around a set of principles that embody those rights.

The Charter was preceded by the Canadian Bill of Rights, which was enacted in 1960. However, the Bill of Rights is only a federal statute, rather than a constitutional document. As a federal statute, it can be amended through the ordinary legislative process and has no application to provincial laws. The Supreme Court of Canada also narrowly interpreted the Bill of Rights and the Court had been reluctant to declare laws inoperative. The relative ineffectiveness of the Canadian Bill of Rights motivated many to improve rights protections in Canada. The movement for human rights and freedoms that emerged after World War II also wanted to entrench the principles enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Mother Earth Water Walkers contribute to peace in their active witness to all people’s dependency on clean water. #Canada150

“Traditional teachings and modern science combine to strengthen our historical understanding that Water is the life-blood of our Mother Earth. Indigenous women continue their role as protectors of the Water. …we must continually ask ourselves what we are leaving for a future seventh generation….It is our spiritual and cultural responsibility to protect our local lands and Waters in order to help protect the whole of Mother Earth.” Tribal and First Nations Great Lakes Water Accord, 2004

Ojibwa Grandmother Josephine Mandamin, an Anishnawbe elder originally from the Wikwemikong Unceded Reservation on Manitoulin Island in northern Ontario, was the founder of the Mother Earth Water Walk. She has walked more than 10,000 miles along the shores of rivers and lakes since 2003. Mandamin has collected pledges from more than 100 First Nations communities to support the First Nations Great Lake Water Accord.

The First Nations Great Lake Water Accord, signed at Sault. Ste. Marie, Michigan, November 23, 2004, states that the Tribes and First Nations of the Great Lakes Basin demand that ”our rights and sovereignty be respected, that that any governmental effort to protect and preserve the Waters of the great Lakes Basin include full participation by Tribes and First Nations, and we also hereby pledge that we share the interests and concerns about the future of the Great Lakes waters, further pledging to work together with each other and the with other governments in the Great Lakes Basin to secure a healthy future or the Great Lakes.”

Josephine Mandamin received the Lieutenant Governor’s Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation in 2016.

There is a water walk taking place in 2017! Visit Mother Earth Water Walkers website to learn more about this year’s route.

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Chief Dan George contributed to peace by speaking up for Indigenous equality during his acting career. #Canada150

Chief Dan George is a famous 20^th century Indigenous chief of the Salish Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a coastal First Nation tribe located on Burrard Inlet, British Columbia. He took over the role of band chief from his father in 1951, and continued in this role until 1963. He was known for quiet humour and gentleness, and his dedication to being a strong role model for his people.

Born as Geswanouth Slahoot, his English name was originally Dan Slaholt. The surname was changed to George when he entered a residential school at age 5. He worked for 27 years as a longshoreman, and as a construction worker and school bus driver after being injured on the job.  In 1960, when he was already 60 years old, he landed his first acting job in a CBC Television series, Cariboo Country, as the character Ol’ Antoine.

George is also an Oscar nominated actor, famously known in the film Little Big Man (1970). He also starred with Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josey Wales. In addition to many other film roles, George appeared in several episodes of the CBC series The Beachcombers.

During his acting career George promoted better understanding of First Nations people. He has been honoured with an Order of Canada, featured on a Canadian postage stamp and his name has been given to two Canadian schools and a theatre.

On Canada Day in 1967, George performed his soliloquy, Lament for Confederation, before 35,000 people at a centennial event in Vancouver. He indicted white colonialism, resulting stereotypes and the losses of Indigenous ways of life. This speech is credited with escalating native political activism in Canada and touching off widespread pro-native sentiment among non-natives. He lamented, “… since the white man came, I have seen my freedom disappear … When I fought to protect my land and my home, I was called a savage. When I neither understood nor welcomed this way of life, I was called lazy. When I tried to rule my people, I was stripped of my authority.

He declared a vision that colonial tools of oppression could be used to become a way forward to self-expression and self-determination.

“I shall grab the instruments of the white man’s success—his education, his skills, and with these new tools I shall build my race into the proudest segment of your society.”

“We have taken so much from your culture; I wish you had taken something from ours … For there were some beautiful and good things within it. Perhaps now, that the time has come.”

Chief Dan George and his wife Amy (died 1971) had 6 children. He died at the age of 82, at home in Salish Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

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Muriel Duckworth contributed to peace through her activism for peace and advocacy for housing, planning and social assistance. #Canada150

Muriel Duckworth’s religious beliefs (she was a practicing Quaker) were reflected in her pacifism and her work on behalf of peace organizations. She maintained that war with its systematic violence against women and children is a major obstacle to social justice.

She was a founding member of the Nova Scotia Voice of Women, a provincial branch of the Voice of Women (VOW). She served as the National President of VOW, now called the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, from 1967 to 1971. During her presidency, VOW protested vigorously against the U.S.-led War in Vietnam. It also condemned the Canadian government’s tacit support for the war and its policy of quietly encouraging the sale of Canadian-made weapons to the U.S. military. In 1969 and 1971, Duckworth helped organize two highly publicized visits to Canada by Vietnamese women directly affected by the war.

Duckworth was also active in community organizing, electoral politics and the advancement of women’s issues. In 1971, she helped establish the Movement for Citizens’ Voice and Action (MOVE), a coalition of community groups in Halifax, Nova Scotia working for a wide range of goals including improvements in education, housing, social assistance and municipal planning.

In her later years, Duckworth performed with the Halifax chapter of the Raging Grannies.

She memorably and succinctly proclaimed, “War is stupid.”

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YMCA Peace Week contributes to peace by annually celebrating and recognizing local contributors to peace. #Canada150

The YMCA has long been celebrated for offering activities and educational programs to help children, youth and adults to explore the many dimensions of healthy living, all of which strengthens peace at many levels.

For almost 30 years the YMCA has been awarding peace medallions during their annual Peace Week to individuals and groups of peacemakers in communities across Canada, who are role models for the building of peace and strong communities. To date, over 1,500 Peace Medallions have been presented to peacemakers across the country.

Among the many recipients across Canada are:

• Michele Lavin and Don Wilkinson of Owen Sound, Ontario for their work on nuclear disarmament
• Bridget Toole Grant for her long-time support of peace issues both individually and through peace organizations
• Puppets for Peace in Calgary, Alberta for their anti-bullying work with pre- school to Grade 6 students
• Mediating Students from l’Ecole Ludger-Duvernay, Montreal, PQ for using their conflict resolution and mediating skills to create a more peaceful school environment by resolving more than 400 conflicts in their school in one year
• India Canada Society of Hamilton and Region for promoting peace through an Annual Gandhi Peace Festival that includes a writing contest as well as raising funds for university peace lectures
• Judi Wyatt of Kingston, Ontario for her work with the experiential learning strategy, The Poverty Challenge
• …and so many more! Learn more at ymca.ca/peaceweek

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Reverend Dr. Lois Wilson has contributed to peace through her global work for the protection and promotion of human rights. #Canada150

The Very Reverend, The Honourable Dr. Lois Wilson was ordained a United Church minister in 1965, and became the first woman Moderator of the United Church of Canada in 1980.

Dr. Wilson was appointed to the Senate in 1998, and was Canada’s Special Envoy to the Sudan, led Government delegations to China and to North Korea, co-founded the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, and co-chaired the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security for the UN, which brought together NGO’s, Governments and Parliamentarians around Resolution 1325 for gender equality. Dr. Wilson has served on international monitoring teams for elections in a number of countries.

As President of both the Canadian and World Council of Churches, Dr. Wilson was an advocate of inter-faith encounters within Canada, and visited partner churches in Asia, Latin America, India and Africa. She has been a leading advocate of international human rights, serving as the chair of the Board of Rights and Democracy and as a Member of the Refugee Status Advisory Committee.

She is the author of 9 books including, Turning the World Upside Down: A Memoir (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1989) and I Want to Be in That Number – Cool Saints I Have Known (Toronto: self-published, 2014). She also wrote the first chapter of Transforming the Faiths of our Fathers: Women who Changed American Religion (2004), edited by Ann Braude.

Dr. Wilson’s work has been recognized in a number of ways, including:

• a Member of the Order of Ontario
• made an Officer of the Order of Canada, later promoted to the top rank of Companion
• first woman to be President of the Canadian Council of Churches
• the first Canadian to be the President of the World Council of Churches
• awarded the World Federalist Peace Prize
• awarded the U.N. (Canada) Pearson Peace Medal

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Lewisporte, Newfoundland contributed to peace by hosting stranded Americans after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. #Canada150

800 passengers were diverted to Lewisporte where the community of just over 3,000 took care of them for three days. The community set up beds in a high school gym to keep families together. Women who wanted a women’s only facility were accommodated. Elderly passengers were taken to private homes. The community provided bedding, food and entertainment. Each day, passengers were taken on “excursions” to boat tours of the harbor, walks in local forests, tours of the town.

The stranded visitors were driven to the restaurants of their choice and fed. For those who wanted to stay in the school, food prepared by the residents was brought in. Tokens to the laundromat were supplied because the guests’ luggage was still on the plane. “We had everything we needed, even fresh towels every day. It was incredible.” Shirley Brooks–Jones

On the plane back to the United States, Brooks-Jones and other passengers were determined to find a way to thank their generous hosts and decided to start a scholarship fund. Before they landed, they collected $15,000 in pledges. The Lewisporte Area Flight 15 Scholarship Fund has now sent well more than 100 Lewisporte Collegiate School students to college and trade schools. More than $2 million has been donated.

The guests have maintained contact with their hosts. Some have returned every year since. The events have even inspired the creation of a successful musical titled Come From Away.

The Order of Newfoundland and Labrador has been given to the community in recognition of this response to need.

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