Written by Hannah Hadikin-VOW’s Co-Chair
May 2024
Mothers’ Day will be remembered as a very special day. The day the ‘On to Ottawa Peace Caravan’ set out to travel across the country. Two women’s peace groups, the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, (WILPF), calling for peace enroute to Ottawa and CANSEC. Canadians from coast to coast invited to build a pro-peace, anti-war movement.
A movement which demands that the Canadian government:
“Stop spending billions of dollars on the military and development of fossil fuels that massively contribute to the runaway climate crisis.
Use taxpayers’ money to address urgent social needs such as housing, health, childcare, education, immigrants and refugees.
Join calls supporting ceasefires, UNRWA and support for the International Court of Justice.
Initiate diplomatic and nonviolence dialogues to end world conflicts.”
The Peace Caravan made its first stop in Kelowna on Mothers’ Day, a warm Sunday evening. The Kelowna Peace Group and the Unitarian Church opened its doors for members, guests, and visitors. The invitation read: “Together we can send a powerful message to our leaders and the world. That peace is not a dream but an achievable reality.” Demilitarize, Decarbonize, Decolonize, on the colourful buttons.
My daughter Heidi and I were thrilled to join the greeting group!
The evening resounded with spontaneous exchanges, speeches with hearts and minds, storytelling, a trailer of the documentary film ‘1.5 Degrees of Peace’ by a young film maker Kasha Sequoia Slaver. The room suddenly reverberated with a lively group on the stage, accompanied with a Ukulele, treating the audience to ‘Peace Train,’ by Cat Stevens and ‘Blowing in the Wind,’ by Bob Dylan. Soon everyone joined and the melody spilled out the open doors!
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia VOW members, in solidarity with the Peace Caravan, set out on May 5th with visits in communities along the way to arrive in Ottawa, coinciding with arrival of the Caravan from BC.
“We are making white poppy wreaths and will be placing them at Town Halls en route with messages to local politicians that investing in peace and a culture of care is a duty we share. Our workshops include several art pieces that connect the disaster of civilian suffering to the profit of an unsustainable weapons industry”.
In 2023, some 12,000 registrants, hundreds of exhibitors, business operators, supply companies, gathering May 29-30 in Ottawa to peddle their military goods and supplies for use on the pathways to wars present and future. “CANSEC showcases leading-edge technology, products for land-based, naval, aerospace and joint forces military units, during the largest and most important defence industry trade show in Canada.. Just because your business isn’t traditionally involved in the defence sector doesn’t mean you can’t showcase your works..Get your piece of the action, meet your future buyers, register,” read an invitation from the Canadian government with no opposition from any elected officials. Meanwhile, the climate crisis continues to worsen, poverty increasing year to year.
https://www.defenceandsecurity.ca/CANSEC/cansec/Why-Attend#wa-speakers
We will march, call for action, promote peace and continue to advance a progressive vision for human security based on non-violence, ecology and human rights.
NOTE: This article was first published in ISKRA, A Voice of the Doukhobors, Journal, May 2024.
