Help us reach 1000 signatures! Please join journalist Linda McQuaig, poet and associate professor El Jones, former journalist Michele Landsberg, feminist leader Judy Rebick, activist Bianca Mugyenyi, & over 800 Canadians to sign our open letter to Prime Minister Carney & Minister of Women & Gender Equality Rechie Valdez to cut military spending and invest in a green, peace care economy. The deadline is Sept. 20; we are presenting the letter to the Prime Minister on International Peace Day, Sept. 21, in Ottawa.
Why This Matters
We call on the federal government to cut military spending and cancel the defence industrial strategy. We want the federal government to adequately invest in housing, health care, education, the Calls to Action of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission and the MMIWG2S Inquiry, public transit, international aid, supporting those with disabilities, and increasing the budget for WAGE. These resources should be invested in communities and systems that support women, gender-diverse individuals, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, and Indigenous communities.
This is about building a future rooted in care, equity, and collective well-being—where those most impacted are centred in both leadership and solutions.
About “Women+” in This Campaign
This campaign is led by women and gender-diverse people. We invite people of all genders to show up in solidarity and support this work.
When we say women+, we are intentionally including gender-diverse individuals—such as non-binary, Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer, agender, and gender non-conforming people. The “+” is not an afterthought or add-on; it reflects a deliberate commitment to collective leadership and shared struggle.
LIST OF EVENTS IN OTTAWA IN SEPTEMBER
Events are held in solidarity with the Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice.
(1) Ottawa-Gatineau Climate March 2026
On Saturday, September 19, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 pm. Rain on shine.
Please see the route, you can join at 9:30 am in Gatineau and 10:30 am in Ottawa:
Organized by Fridays for Future
(2) Film Screening “Earth’s Greatest Enemy” in Ottawa
Sunday, September 20, 2026 from 6:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at the Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St, Ottawa.
*Doors open at 6:00 p.m. /Film starts at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets $10 regular | $5 for students/low-income
To buy tickets in advance and reserve your seat, go to Eventbrite.
Come to watch this powerful new documentary “Earth’s Greatest Enemy”! It’s an important film by U.S. journalist and host of the Empire Files Abby Martin about the climate and environmental destruction of the American war machine. Film screening is being held to mark International Day of Peace and for the #1000women campaign for #CareNotWarfare. Organized by the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW), the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom-Canada (WILPF), the Raging Grannies Ottawa and OPIRG Carleton. More information: https://earthsgreatestenemy.com/
The poster for the Ottawa film screening is here.
(3) Watch the VOW & WILPF Press Conference for ‘Care not Warfare’ on September 21
VOW and WILPF-Canada will be having a press conference about our 1000+ women for ‘Care not Warfare’ campaign onMonday, September 21 from 11:00-11:30 a.m. in the Press Gallery on the West Block in Ottawa.The speakers are: Dr. Tamara Lorincz (Canadian Voice of Women for Peace), Lyn Adamson (Seniors for Climate Witness), Mariam Furre (Carleton PIRG), Ellen Woodsworth (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Canada). They will speak about Canadian women’s opposition to rising military spending and the defence industrial strategy, the open letter to Prime Minister Carney and Minister of Women & Gender Equality Rechie Valdez, and the 1000 women+ campaign “Care Not Warfare”.
The press conference will likely be livestreamed on CPAC: https://www.cpac.ca/en. People can listen in through the Press Gallery teleconference line:Dial-in number: 613-209-3054Webinar ID: 620 2186 3324 Passcode: 524483
(4) Join us for a peaceful rally #1000Women for “Care Not Warfare: Cut Military Spending” at the Prime Minister’s Office in Ottawa
September 21, 2026 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. at 80 Wellington St., Ottawa.
To mark the United Nation’s International Day of Peace.
(Meet at 3:30 pm the Centennial Flame in front of Parliament to march to the Prime Minister’s office)
Help us oppose the Carney government’s plan to increase military spending from $65 billion in 2025 to $150 billion by 2035 while cutting funding to other programs for women, environment & climate change, fisheries & oceans, agriculture etc. Organized by the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW), the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom-Canada (WILPF) and the Raging Grannies Ottawa. Part of our campaign #1000women+ for #CareNotWarfare.
The poster for the Ottawa film screening is here.
(5) Seniors Climate Witness are also doing many important nonviolent actions from September 19-September 22 in Ottawa, please follow on Facebook.
There is a caravan of seniors coming from BC and NS to Ottawa for these events. See list of events in Ottawa here.
(6) PANEL EVENT: “The Arctic at the Crossroads: A Zone of Peace or NATO 3.0”
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Carleton University, Dunton 1111A, Dunton Tower, Ottawa.
Speakers: Beth Kotierk, Inuk lawyer; Dr. Charles Brunette, Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Ottawa; Dr. Tamara Lorincz, Senior Researcher Canadian Voice of Women for Peace; and Yves Enger, Canadian foreign policy analyst and author.
Hear from the panelists and then join in the discussion to talk about the Arctic, a crucially important polar region that comprises 40% of our Canada’s territory and 70% of our coastline and is the homeland of the Inuit, but it is an area that is increasingly threatened by climate change and conflict. All welcome. Light refreshments will be provided.
The panel will be taking place for RAD FROSH for People, Planet & Peace at Carleton University and in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the Arctic Council and the Global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice. Organized by Carleton PIRG and endorsed by the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom-Canada, and the Ottawa Peace Council. For more information: https://www.carletonpirg.org/
The poster for the panel is here.
(7) Join VOW at the London screening of “Earth’s Greatest Enemy” on Monday, September 28
7:00-9:30 p.m. includes Q&A session afterward
Hyland Cinema,240 Wharncliffe Rd S, London, Ontario
More information and buy your tickets here: https://www.hylandcinema.com/movie/earths-greatest-enemy (pay what you can).Organized by the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Graduate Studies (SOGS) and the Green Party.
Our researcher Tamara will be tabling before the screening and participating in the Q&A after screening.
(8) Can you make a donation to help with our our 1000+ women for care not warfare campaign?
We are raising money to pay for the printing costs of our material for the 1000+ women campaign. If you can help VOW financially, please donate here: https://secure.vowpeace.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=2 or e-transfer: accounting@vowpeace.org Every dollar helps us do our work. Thank you for your support!
OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER OF WOMEN & GENDER EQUALITY
Dear Prime Minister Carney and Minister Valdez,
We are writing to you to express our firm opposition to the federal government increasing military spending, because it will prevent adequate funding to critical social and environmental programs for Canadians. In the past decade, Canada’s military spending has doubled from $20 billion in 2014 to $44 billion in 2024. This year, military spending has increased to $62 billion to reach NATO’s 2% GDP target, which has led to mass layoffs and deep cuts to many federal departments including Environment and Climate Change Canada, Crown and Indigenous Relations, Fisheries and Oceans, Global Affairs, Immigration, Refugees, & Citizenship Canada, etc. To reach 5% of GDP, Canada’s military spending will shamefully rise to $150 billion per year by 2035, which will cause further drastic cuts to essential services.
According to the Women and Gender Equality Canada’s (WAGE) 2026–27 Departmental Plan, the federal government will slash WAGE’s budget from $407 million this year to $76 million by 2027. These cuts will greatly harm women, Indigenous, people with disabilities and 2SLGBTQIA+ people depriving them of crucial services and programs to advance equality and prevent gender-based violence. The federal government is planning to cut millions of dollars from WAGE’s budget in the next two years while it boosts the budget of the male-dominated Department of National Defence by tens of billions of dollars. This misallocation of public funds to the military from WAGE and other departments will make Canadian women’s, gender diverse, Indigenous, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people’s lives more insecure–impacting more than half of the population.
As the United Nations’ confirmed in its report, The Security We Need: Re-Balancing Military Spending for a Peaceful and Sustainable Future, higher military spending takes away funding from social welfare, environmental protection and humanitarian aid. Similarly, the IMF has warned in their April report that “scaling up defense spending can weaken fiscal and external sustainability and risk crowding out social spending.” According to Campaign 2000‘s 2025 report card, poverty in Canada is getting much worse. Nearly 1.4 million Canadian children are now living in poverty and there is more homelessness across the country. The Canadian Climate Institute recently reported that Canada is not on track to meet its Paris Agreement targets to halve carbon emissions while there are more severe weather events adversely impacting communities.
We call on the federal government to cut military spending and cancel the defence industrial strategy. We want the federal government to adequately invest in housing, health care, education, the Calls to Action of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission and the MMIWG2S Inquiry, public transit, international aid, and increase the budget for WAGE. We appeal to the federal government to fund a green, peace care economy that improves the well-being of all Canadians, protects the climate and environment, and ensures our commitment to UN multilateralism not militarism. #CareNotWarfare
Lettre Ouverte au Premier Ministre et à la Ministre Des Femmes et de L’égalité des Genres
Monsieur le Premier Ministre Carney, Madame la Ministre Valdez,
Nous vous écrivons pour exprimer notre ferme opposition à l’augmentation des dépenses militaires par le gouvernement fédéral, qui empêchera le financement adéquat de programmes sociaux et environnementaux essentiels pour la population canadienne. Au cours de la dernière décennie, les dépenses militaires du Canada ont plus que doublé, passant de 20 milliards de dollars en 2014 à 44 milliards en 2024. Cette année, ces dépenses ont grimpé à 62 milliards de dollars pour atteindre l’objectif de l’OTAN de consacrer 2 % du PIB à la défense, ce qui a entraîné des licenciements massifs et des coupes budgétaires sévères dans de nombreux ministères fédéraux, notamment Environnement et Changement climatique Canada, Relations Couronne-Autochtones, Pêches et Océans, Affaires mondiales, Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada, etc. Afin d’atteindre le seuil de 5 % du PIB, les dépenses militaires du Canada augmenteraient de manière scandaleuse pour atteindre 150 milliards de dollars par an d’ici 2035, ce qui provoquerait de nouvelles coupes drastiques dans les services essentiels.
Selon le Plan ministériel 2026-2027 de Femmes et Égalité des genres Canada (FEGC), le gouvernement fédéral réduira considérablement le budget de ce ministère, le faisant passer de 407 millions de dollars cette année à 76 millions d’ici 2027. Ces coupes nuiront gravement aux femmes, aux personnes de diverses identités de genre, aux peuples autochtones, aux personnes en situation de handicap et aux personnes LGBTQIA, en les privant de services et de programmes cruciaux pour faire progresser l’égalité et prévenir la violence réactionnaire fondée sur le genre.
Le gouvernement fédéral prévoit retrancher des millions de dollars au budget de FEGC au cours des deux prochaines années, tout en augmentant de plusieurs dizaines de milliards de dollars le budget du ministère de la Défense nationale, un secteur à prédominance masculine et de plus en plus fermé aux francophones. Cette mauvaise affectation des fonds publics — détournés de FEGC et d’autres ministères vers l’armée — précarisera davantage la vie des femmes, des personnes de diverses identités de genre, des Autochtones et des personnes LGBTQIA au Canada, affectant ainsi plus de la moitié de la population.
Comme l’ont confirmé les Nations Unies dans leur rapport intitulé La sécurité dont nous avons besoin : rééquilibrer les dépenses militaires pour un avenir durable et pacifique, l’augmentation des dépenses militaires prive de financement la protection sociale, la préservation de l’environnement et l’aide humanitaire. De même, le FMI a averti dans son rapport d’avril qu’une « intensification des dépenses de défense peut compromettre la viabilité budgétaire et extérieure et risquer d’évincer les dépenses sociales ».
Selon le bilan 2025 de Campagne 2000, la pauvreté s’aggrave considérablement au Canada. Près de 1,4 million d’enfants canadiens vivent aujourd’hui dans la pauvreté et le phénomène de l’itinérance est en hausse dans tout le pays. L’Institut climatique du Canada a récemment signalé que le pays n’est pas en voie d’atteindre les objectifs de l’Accord de Paris (ONU2015) visant à réduire de moitié les émissions de carbone, alors même que des phénomènes météorologiques extrêmes tels les feux de forêts affectent durement les communautés.
Nous appelons le gouvernement fédéral à réduire les dépenses militaires et à abandonner la stratégie industrielle de défense. Nous demandons au gouvernement fédéral d’investir adéquatement dans le logement, les soins de santé, l’éducation, la mise en œuvre des appels à l’action de la Commission de vérité et réconciliation et des recommandations de l’Enquête sur les femmes et les filles autochtones disparues et assassinées (FFADA), les transports en commun et l’aide internationale, ainsi qu’à augmenter le budget de Femmes et Égalité des genres Canada (FEGC).
Nous exhortons le gouvernement fédéral à financer une économie verte axée sur la paix et le bien-être, qui améliore la qualité de vie de tous les Canadiens, protège le climat et l’environnement, et concrétise notre engagement envers le multilatéralisme onusien plutôt que le militarisme.
Organizations Signed onto the Open Letter:
Oxfam-Québec
CANADA WIDE PEACE & JUSTICE NETWORK
SCAN, Seniors for Climate Action Now
Global Movement for the Culture of Peace
Conscience Canada
Alternatives
Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI)
Comité de Solidarité/Trois-Rivières
Victoria Peace Coalition
Canadian Peace Initiative (CPI)
Pax Christi
Committee for Human Rights in Latin America (CDHAL)
Project Ploughshares Saskatoon
Centre for Meditation, Family Healing and Regenerative Agriculture
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom-Canada
Sophia Recovery Centre
Peace Alliance Winnipeg
Coalition Against Bigotry – Pacific.
The Simons Foundation Canada
Equity watch
Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada
The Peacemaking Collective
Victoria Peace Coalition
Extinction Victoria BC
MAW0
Just Earth
Mother of Hope International Organisation (MOH)
Peace Track Initiative
Cdn Peace Congress
The Coalition to end Genocide in Gaza
Northwatch
Global Movement for the Culture of Peace
Teachers4Palestine
Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI)
Comité de Solidarité/Trois-Rivières
SFU350
Religions pour la Paix – Québec
Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO)
Peace Philosophy Centre
Victoria Peace Coalition
Winnipeg Chileans Association
Canadian Peace Initiative (CPI)
Just Peace Committee
Victoria Raging Grannies
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Nanaimo Chapter
Committee for Human Rights in Latin America (CDHAL)
Montreal for a World Beyond War
Project Ploughshares Saskatoon
Religions for Peace Canada
North Bay Peace Alliance
The Canadian Palestinian Social Association (CPSA)
Greenspiration
Hills for Peace and Justice
Canada Wide Peace & Action
Intermedia Educational Co. Ltd
Canadian association for protection of the environment
Mid-island Council of Canadians
Centre for Meditation, Family Healing and Regenerative Agriculture
LES ARTISTES POUR LA PAIX
Bathurst Street United Church
Ottawa Raging Grannies
Capitalism Can’t Be Fixed