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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Peter Dhillon contributes to peace through his humanitarian work, particularly the organization Right to Play. #Canada150

Peter chair of the Vancouver Branch of the Right to Play, an international humanitarian organization for children in communities affected by war, poverty and disease.

An outstanding business and community leader, Peter Dhillon’s family cranberry growing business, The Richberry Group of Companies, has contributed greatly to the economy of B.C. He has put equal importance on his philanthropic and charitable service, and has played an active role on many organizations and boards, including Director of Vancouver Airport Authority, Board of Governors of Simon Fraser University, Director and former vice chair of Ocean Spray Cranberries, audit committee of the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee, Canadian Olympic Committee, Board member Vancouver Hospital and UBC Hospital Foundation, Director and vice chairman of B.C. Ferries, Director of Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and Director of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

He has made significant financial contributions to many organizations including Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Arts Umbrella, and the Khalsa Diwan Society.

At the University of British Columbia he established the Rashpal Dhillon Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Endowment and the Rashpal Dhillon Track & Field Centre in his father’s memory. He has endowed The Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at UBC. This is to be the first centre at a Canadian business school to take a comprehensive approach to the study, teaching and promotion of business ethics.

“There is an impression that you can’t do well in business unless you set ethics aside. I want to break that image. You can be caring, you can be thoughtful, and still be successful.”

Peter is a recipient of the Order of British Columbia.

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Operation Dismantle contributed to peace by advocating for nuclear disarmament. #Canada150

In 1977, James Stark and Peter Brown founded Operation Dismantle, a non-partisan, pacifist, nonprofit organization to bring the pressure of public opinion to bear on governments to end the nuclear arms race.

In 1983 Operation Dismantle brought a Charter challenge before the Canadian Supreme Court to end the government’s sanctioning of US testing of cruise missiles on Canadian soil. Operation Dismantle argued that the use of cruise missiles by the US government increased the risk of nuclear war and that Canada’s participation made Canada a more likely target. Ultimately, the court rejected their section 7 Charter challenge.

To build coalitions the organization pioneered the idea of municipal referenda on disarmament. They created a United Nations sponsored world referendum on disarmament, which the organization believed would be the best way to provide governments with a sufficiently powerful mandate to push for disarmament. Operation Dismantle’s municipal referenda campaign on disarmament led to 195 votes in municipal campaigns, with the results 76.2% in favour. The organization also led a campaign during the 1984 federal election to make a nuclear freeze an election issue.

Dismantle had some 10,000 members and supporters. Though the organization was disbanded in 1989, the experience and inspiration for the many people involved led them to continue efforts for nuclear disarmament with other local, national and international organizations. In turn, they contributed to Megatons to Megawatts, the U.S.-Russia agreement of 1993 which resulted in the dismantling of 15,000 Russian warheads to be turned into electricity (see article).

As of 2010, the U.S. and Russia have each agreed to destroy 34 metric tons of military plutonium this way, enough to make 8,500 nuclear bombs. We can’t help but wonder about the state of that agreement today.

Bonus Editor’s Content: Great article written in 2010 by former member Stephen E. Aplin reflecting on his time with Operation Dismantle.

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Michelle Landsberg contributes to peace as one of the first journalists to address sexual harassment in the workplace. #Canada150

Michelle Landsberg, born 12 July 1939, is a trailblazing Canadian journalist, author, public speaker, Feminist and social activist. Her work has brought many important issues to light and influenced countless opinion leaders across the country.

For over 25 years she wrote for the Toronto Star. She was one of the first journalists in Canada to address issues of sexual harassment in the workplace, equal pay, racial discrimination in education and employment opportunities, and lack of gender equality in divorce and custodial proceedings. She has been a vocal advocate in discrediting the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. Prior to writing her feminist column at the Star she wrote for The Globe and Mail; and served as a staff writer and editor for Chatelaine magazine.

Her latest book is Writing the Revolution, a history of the Canadian women’s movement. In 2006, the Canadian Women’s Foundation created the Michele Landsberg Award to celebrate young women speaking out about gender equality in the media. In 2013 and 2014, the Canadian Women’s Foundation launched  two new awards in Michele’s name.

Landsberg is the recipient of the Officer of the Order of Canada, two National Newspaper Awards, the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, the Dodi Robb Award from MediaWatch, the Robertine Barry Prize for journalism from the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Florence Bird Award from the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, several honorary degrees, and the Canadian Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the 1929 Persons Case and Democratic Development, an award acknowledging contributions to equality for women which have resulted in positive change.

She is married to Stephen Lewis, former leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, diplomat and humanitarian. He is co-founder of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. His work with the United Nations has spanned over two decades.

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Sister Dr. Rosalie Bertell contributed to peace through her writing and speaking about the dangers of radiation. #Canada150

Sister Dr. Rosalie Bertell, (1929-2012), a member of the religious community of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, was an outstanding scientist and prolific author. She is best known for her work in the field of ionizing radiation.

A dual citizen of Canada and the United States, Bertell worked in environmental health from 1970. She was a consultant to both American and Canadian government departments in the areas of environment, health and nuclear regulation. Sister. Bertell was President of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health from 1987 to 2004. She also founded the International Medical Commission Chernobyl in 1996 and was a member of the International Medical Commission on Bhopal (India).

Between 1985 and 2005 Bertell appeared in 5 documentary films, including the National Film Board production Speaking Our Peace. In this film she challenges the audience to come to terms with the fact that an insidious ‘death process’ underlies the arms race.

“Wars results in immediate deaths and destruction, but the environmental consequences can last hundreds, often thousands of years. And it is not just war itself that undermines our life support system, but also the research and development, military exercises and general preparations for battle that are carried out on a daily basis in most parts of the world. The majority of this pre-war activity takes place without the benefit of civilian scrutiny and therefore we are unaware of some of what is being done to our environment in the name of ‘security.”

Bertell published numerous articles and was editor of the journal, “International Perspectives in Public Health. She wrote the books No Immediate Danger: Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth (1985) and Planet Earth: The Latest Weapon of War (2000).

Over her lifetime, Bertell was the recipient of numerous awards, including: the Hans- Adalbert-Schweigart-Medal (1983); Right Livelihood Award (1986); World Federalist Peace Award; Ontario Premier’s Council on Health, Health Innovator Award (1991); United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Award; and the Sean MacBride International Peace Prize.

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