Maurice Strong contributed to peace as a leader in global discussions on environmental protection, particularly at the United Nations.

Early in his career, Maurice Strong served as head of the Canadian International Development Agency. He then held a number of posts with the United Nations, including presiding over the 1972 Stockholm conference on the human environment. In 1976 Strong was appointed as the first head of the national oil company Petro-Canada – his business associations with “big oil” were not without their controversies. In 1992, he presided over the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.  This led to the launch of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; both events are considered watershed moments in international environmental diplomacy.

“Don’t accept that you can’t make a difference. Because if you can’t make a difference, you won’t make a difference, and if you put a multiplier on that we will continue on an unsustainable pathway.”

Strong’s work was instrumental in ushering in a new era of international environmental diplomacy which saw the birth of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the first UN agency to be headquartered in a developing country (Kenya). As head of UNEP, Strong convened the first international expert group meeting on climate change. For his service, he was made a companion of the Order of Canada and a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau said of him, “Mr. Strong was an internationally recognized environmentalist and philanthropist who used his remarkable business acumen, organizational skills and humanity to make the world a better place.”

“We must, from here on in, all go down the same path… There may not be another chance.”

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Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier contributed to peace through championing national unity through political compromise.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, lawyer, journalist, and politician was leader of the Liberal Party 1887–1919 and Canada’s eighth prime minister, 1896–1911.

Though his time in office was not without controversy, he was a skillful and pragmatic politician who is known for seeking compromise. He was a fervent promoter of national unity at a time of radical change and rising cultural conflict between French and English Canadians.

Though historians still debate Laurier’s legacy, it was under his leadership that the country continued its industrialization and urbanization, expanded westward, constructed another transcontinental railway, and was strengthened by the addition of two provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and two million inhabitants.

Laurier studied law at McGill and established close ties with members of the Parti Rouge, a radical liberal political party from Canada East (Québec). An early opponent of Confederation, he argued that the federal government would have too much power, and that French Canadians would be overwhelmed. In 1871, when the Catholic Church in Québec was ferociously attacking the Rouges and liberalism, Laurier became the Liberal member for Drummond-Arthabaska in the Québec legislature. In place of his earlier radical liberalism, he adopted a position of moderate liberalism, which he hoped would be more acceptable to the Catholic clergy. He also decided, like many liberals of his time, he eventually accepted Confederation, and became committed to working within it.

For some, he was, as prime minister, the spiritual successor to Macdonald, who pursued and consolidated Confederation. For others, Laurier, in the name of national unity and necessary compromise, too often sacrificed the interest of French Canadian Catholics.

In 1885, outraged by the hanging of Louis Riel, he recognized the need to unite the French and English in Canada. From 1887 he devoted himself to building a truly national party.  In 1893, Laurier proposed a new program which served as the basis for a new national structure. In the 1896 election, contrary to the expectations of many French Canadians, Laurier did not champion the minority rights of Catholics in Manitoba.  Instead, his focus as prime minister was on the country’s development and on implementing policies designed to heal the wounds of national unity.

As leader of the opposition, and out of personal conviction, Laurier vigorously supported Canadian participation in the First World War. In 1917, when the country was plunged into national crisis following imposition of military Conscription, he refused to support this measure, which was so repulsive to Québec, and proposed instead a referendum and continued voluntary enlistment.

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Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team contributes to peace by providing shelter, first aid, water & food to victims of disaster.

The Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is a multidisciplinary unit of military members and civilians from Global Affairs Canada. It is not a standing force, but a group of pre-identified personnel that deploys on short notice anywhere in the world upon the request of the country in need.

From the National Defense Website:

“In 1994, the DND medical unit from Petawawa, Ontario was deployed to Rwanda, where hundreds of thousands of people living in refugee camps faced an outbreak of cholera. Despite best efforts, the medical contingent did not arrive until after the epidemic had passed its peak. The Canadian government recognized the need for a rapid-response capability to provide effective humanitarian aid.”

DART is designed to deploy in situations ranging from natural disasters to complex humanitarian emergencies, and works to prevent the onset of secondary effects of disaster. It acts to stabilize the primary effects of the disaster until the local government and international organizations are capable of assuming responsibility for subsequent recovery and reconstruction efforts.  DART works alongside local authorities and other international organizations and agencies.

The team focuses on delivering water purification, primary medical help and engineering
assistance. It supplies aid for up to 40 days to those suffering from natural disasters.

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Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw worked outside the law to establish the first Birth Control Clinic in Canada.

Dr. Bagshaw affected profound change at a time of great adversity. She pursued a career in medicine at a time when women were not accepted in the field. Dr. Bagshaw entered Toronto Women’s Medical College in 1901, just 18 years after it opened. She established a family practice, with a focus on obstetrics in Hamilton, Ontario. For three successive years in the 1920’s Dr. Bagshaw signed more birth certificates than any other Hamilton doctor. Working before the existence of public healthcare, she often worked for free to care for families who couldn’t afford care. (Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Video)

In 1932 she established the first birth control clinic, which at the time was illegal. She served as the clinic’s medical director for over 30 years and pioneers areas of family medicine that, while universal now, were not widely practiced.

She believed it a detriment to the country for families to have more children than they could afford, she provided reproductive information and education, and championed the notion that women are in control of their reproductive destinies. In 1969, the clinic became legal.

Founder of the Canadian Federation of Medical Women, Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw has received numerous awards and honours. In 1973, she was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada, and in 1979 she received the Governor General Persons Award. She was named Hamilton’s Citizen of the Year in 1970 and the Hamilton Academy of Medicine established a guest lectureship in her name in 1981.

In 1976, she retired from active medical practice at the age of 95, the oldest practicing physician in Canada.

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Raffi Cavoukian contributes to peace by honouring children & encouraging adults to do so, too.  #Canada150

Raffi Cavoukian is a Canadian singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur and music producer born in Egypt. Well-known and loved as a global troubadour of childrens’ entertainment his musical work focuses on social and environmental causes. He also promotes those causes through his books, academic lectures and as a speaker. In 2007, Raffi wrote, recorded and produced the single, Cool It, a “call to action” on global warming with Dr. David Suzuki in the chorus.  It was the theme song for Dr. Suzuki’s recent Canadian tour to promote action on climate change. In February 2016, Raffi released a song in support of American Senator Bernie Sanders run for the US Democratic Party nomination and the Presidency. Raffi has sold over 15,000,000 albums and DVDs.

In 2006 Raffi created “Child-Honouring”, a comprehensive meta-framework for societal transformation connecting person, culture and planet. Through his many years of working with children he understands their place in the creation of an evolving world, the primary importance of supporting them; and that through supporting them, we support all of humanity. By putting the universal needs of children first, strategies can be developed to build community, restore the planet’s health, be peace-makers, and create sustainable economies devoted to the wellbeing of all. The essence of the vision is expressed in A Covenant for Honouring Children and its underlying principles. In part:

“We commit ourselves to peaceful ways and vow to keep from harm these (children) our most vulnerable citizens. As guardians of their prosperity we honour the bountiful earth whose diversity sustains us. Thus we pledge our love for generations to come.”  

Raffi‘s supporters have included the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and an estimated tens of millions of children and their parents.

Awards and Honours:

• Order of Canada (1983)
• Order of British Columbia (2001)
• Fred Rogers Integrity Award (2006)
• Special Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto in 2000
• Holds Doctorates of Letters and Music from several Canadian Universities

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The Great Law of Peace contributed to peace as core principle of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which has and will influence policies for generations to come. #Canada150

Among the Haudenosaunee – that is to say the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, the Oneida and the Tuscarora, the Great Law of Peace is the oral constitution of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The law was written on wampum belts, conceived by Dekanawidah, known as The Great Peacemaker (born near the Bay of Quinte, in southeastern Ontario, Canada in the mid 1400s), and his spokesman Hiawatha.

When peace had successfully been spread among the five nations and the strength of unity recognized, the people gathered together to celebrate. They uprooted a white pine tree and threw their weapons into the hole. They replanted the tree on top of the weapons and named it the Tree of Peace, which symbolizes the Great Law of Peace that the Haudenosaunee came to live by. The four main roots of the Tree of Peace represent the four directions and the paths of peace that lead to the heart of Haudenosaunee territory, where all who want to follow the Great Law of Peace are welcome. At the top of the Tree of Peace is an eagle, guardian of the Haudenosaunee and messenger to the Creator.

The Great Law of Peace rested on principles foreign to western nations of the day. It considered leaders to be the servants of the people, rather than their masters, and included provisions for their impeachment should it become necessary. Freedom of expression in political and religious matters was promoted, and the unauthorized entry of homes forbidden. It was ahead of the European laws in valuing the political participation of women and the relatively equitable distribution of wealth. It could be argued that the early colonists’ interactions with First Nations peoples and their understanding of Haudenosaunee government exerted some influence on the development of the U.S. constitution as well as the Suffragette movement.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy thrives today and continues to enjoy the support of the Six Nations as their representative government even though an elective system was established in 1924.

For more information, visit the Haundenosaunee Confederacy website.

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Laurie Davey-Quantick contributes to peace through her activism and humanitarian work on behalf of children in Uganda. #Canada150

While on a trip to Uganda distributing bed kits on behalf of Sleeping Children Around the World Laurie Davey-Quantick was inspired to work to help to alleviate poverty in the country. In 2003, Davey-Quantick helped found Omwaana Ono International (Omwaana Ono are the Lusoga words for This Child ) with The Inner Wheel Club, an International Voluntary Charitable Organization made up of the wives of Rotarians. Omwaana Ono International focuses on the opportunities for and breaking down the barriers to education.

The group, made up of more than a dozen regular volunteers, has become a life- changing organization that advances the education of children living in poverty in developing countries, notably in Uganda.

In August of 2008 Laurie was asked to visit a secondary school in the village of Kyabazaala while in Uganda. The students have to walk up to an hour to collect water for use at the school. The group’s first project was to construct a well, on an eight-acre parcel of land local Catholic diocese allowed them to build on. The well was completed in June 2009. It now serves 300 households, or nearly 2,000 people.

On the same parcel of land, the group built a classroom, and developed a sewing program so that young girls and women had a place and the means to develop sewing skills.  One of the lessons teaches girls and women how to sew and sell washable sanitary napkins.

“When they start to menstruate, going to school becomes an onerous task. They have no sanitary towels, and no napkins. They are using old rags, if they even have those. So to go to school when you’re having your period is problematic, it’s embarrassing.” To prevent potential embarrassment, the girls just stop going to school. New skills and resources are enabling girls to remain in school, and make a living for themselves.

Laurie has also been active in the peace movement, serving as one of the founding members of the Kingston branch of Operation Dismantle in the 1980s.

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Bertha Wilson contributed to peace with her imaginative and humane legal decisions in judicial cases involving human rights. #Canada150

Bertha Wilson was admitted to Dalhousie Law School in 1954 and was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1957 and of Ontario in 1959. “From my very first day of classes, I knew the law was my thing,” she said. “I just soaked it up like a sponge.” She graduated in 1957, near the top of her class.

Bertha practiced law from 1958 to 1975 with the large Toronto firm Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt, where she specialized in legal research and opinion writing on a wide range of subjects for other lawyers. She was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in December 1975.

In 1982, after intense feminist pressure to name a woman to the Supreme Court, Wilson was appointed. Since then she participated in several Supreme Court decisions, one of the most momentous of which is probably striking down Canadian abortion law in early 1988. In the same year she was appointed a commissioner on the Erasmus-Dussault royal commission on native issues. She served on the Supreme Court from 1982 to 1991.

Allan Hutchison wrote of her in The Globe and Mail upon her retirement, “…her experience as a woman made it more likely that she would understand and champion the history and hopes of Canadian women… her judgments were more likely to be received differently – in negative and positive ways – than those of male judges.”

In 1991 she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and in 1992 she was named Companion of the Order of Canada. Bertha Wilson passed away in Ottawa on April 28, 2007.

Speaking of the role of the judiciary in the new age of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms…

“we are somewhat in the position of space travelers leaving the gravitational comfort of earth; we have to learn new ways to cope with unfamiliar and uncharted horizons.”

Remarks Made at the Superior Court Judges’ Seminar” (August 1987)

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Historic Peace Churches have contributed to peace through their consistent stance against violence and war. #Canada150

The term “historic peace churches” refers specifically to three church groups among pacifist churches—Church of the Brethren, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and Mennonites. The label has been used since the first conference of the peace churches in Kansas, USA in 1935.

Members of the Church of the Brethren, Quakers and Mennonites work through Christian Peacemaker Teams to reduce violence and systematic injustice in regions of conflict.

Statement on pacifism from the Quaker community:

“Perhaps Quakers are best known for our peace testimony. This arises from our conviction that love is at the heart of existence and all human beings are equal in the eyes of God, and that we must live in a way that reflects this. The peace testimony has led Quakers to refuse military service, and to become involved in a wide range of peace activities, from practical work in areas affected by violent conflict to the development of alternatives to violence at all levels from personal to international. Quakers do this in a variety of ways; campaigning and raising awareness around issues of economic and social justice, offering support and guidance to those seeking alternatives to violence, working to challenge and change the circumstances that lead to war, and by seeking to live peacefully within our own homes and communities.”

From Dick Benner, a published voice in the Mennonite community:

“We have attempted compromise by wearing, instead of the poppy, a peace button that proclaims: “To remember is to work for peace.” And every year we struggle with that compromise, this year being no exception, with a rigorous discussion on social media as to the merits of the peace button. Are we still tilting the narrative too much toward celebrating war, rather than witnessing to peace as the better alternative? Or are we still dishonouring the dead by suggesting there is a better way? Are we exploiting these patriotic rituals to bring our own countercultural message? Some settle their consciences by wearing both the poppy and the Mennonite Central Committee peace button. Others of us, conflicted by the matter, wear neither, and pray for peace instead in silent reflection. Listening to the intensity of feelings on both sides of this conversation, it is doubtful that we will ever come to a resolution on the matter.”

From Church of the Brethren:

“The Church of the Brethren seeks to become a living peace church. Christians are called by God to witness to the gospel of peace with such intensity that nations repent and history is changed. Less than a radical witness can only lead us to accept idols of materialism, blind nationalism, the glorification of military strength, dependence on technological solutions for human problems, and personal and national security at the expense of justice.”

Civilian Public Service during WW II came about as a result of the three historic peace churches collaborating with the U.S. government to provide conscientious objectors with alternatives to military service, such as fighting forest fires, and controlling erosion and floods.

Peace churches have also attempted to heal the ravages of war without favoritism. The Quakers sent large shipments of food and medicine to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and to U.S. embargoed Cuba.

To The Church of the Brethren state, “All war is sin.”

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Rosemary Brown, MPP contributed to peace through her advocacy work for the black community and women everywhere. #Canada150

Rosemary Brown (d. April 26, 2003) has the distinction of being Canada’s first Black female member of a provincial legislature and the first woman to run for leadership of a federal political party.

Brown was born in Jamaica to a politically minded family. She immigrated to Canada in 1951 to pursue post-secondary studies in social work at McGill University (BA) and the University of British Columbia (Masters of Social Work). Following graduation, Brown became involved with the British Columbia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and Voice of Women. She also worked briefly with the Children’s Aid Society and as a counsellor at Simon Fraser University.

During the turbulence of the 1960s Brown found renewed purpose in her role as a political advocate against both racism and sexism. She brought that level of awareness to her role as Ombudswoman and founding member of the Vancouver Status of Women Council (VSW). In 1972 Brown entered provincial politics as a New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate, becoming the first Black woman to sit in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

During her 14 years as MLA, Brown created a committee to remove sexism in British Columbia’s educational material and was instrumental in the formation of the Berger Commission on the Family.

Brown retired from the provincial legislature in 1988 and turned her attention to international advocacy. She became the CEO of the advocacy group MATCH International Women’s Fund, serving for three years and holding additional positions thereafter. In 1993, Brown was named chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, a position she held until 1996, all the while continuing her work with MATCH.

In recognition of her exceptional life of public service, Brown was awarded numerous national and international distinctions, including a total of 15 honorary doctorates from Canadian universities, the Order of British Columbia (1995), the Order of Canada (Officer, 1996), and in 1973 the United Nations’ Human Rights Fellowship.

“To be black and female in a society which is both racist and sexist is to be in the unique position of having nowhere to go but up…We must open the doors and we must see to it they remain open, so that others can pass through.”

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