Our honorary board members are an inspiration to us all at the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. We appreciate their important contributions to world peace, and are inspired by the powerful legacies they hold.
Mary-Wynne Ashford, M.D. – VOW (BC)
Long time activist and author promoting the total abolition of nuclear weapons and non-violent alternatives to conflict resolution. She has been a leader in the international peace and disarmament movement for several decades. Ashford graduated from medical school at the University of Calgary in 1981 and practiced as a family doctor for the next 11 years.
In the 1980s she became involved in the anti-nuclear movement, especially with regards to how women could make an impact. She worked with Canadian Physicians for Social Responsibility and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), of which she was Co-President for two years. In 1985 the IPPNW won the Nobel Peace Prize. Ashford is the recipient of the Governor General of Canada’s, the YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Human Rights, and the YMCW Peace Medal. Ashford is also the author of “Enough Blood Shed: 101 Solutions to Violence, Terror and War,” which focuses on effective nonviolent strategies.
Jean Augustine
A former Canadian politician and the first black woman in a federal cabinet as well as the first African Canadian to occupy the Speaker’s Chair in the Canadian House of Commons. Augustine arrived in Canada in 1960 and graduated from the University of Toronto with a master’s in education. She went on to become an elementary school principal with the Metropolitan Separate School Board in Toronto.
Augustine then entered the world of politics, and from 1993 to 2005, she was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore. She was secretary to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien from 1994 to 1996 and was the Minister of State for multiculturalism, and the status of women until 2004. She also served three terms as Chair of the National Liberal Women’s Caucus. In February 2002, Augustine was elected Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. On May 26, 2002, Augustine was appointed Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women). In December 2003, she was re-appointed to the new Cabinet as Minister of State (Multiculturalism and Status of Women). In 2004, she was appointed to the position of Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole.
Augustine has served on numerous organizations and boards including the National BlackCoalition of Canada, the Board of Governors of York University, the Board of Trustees for The Hospital for Sick Children, the Board of Directors of the Donwood Institute, the Board of Harbourfront and Chair of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority. She was also the National President of the Congress of Black Women of Canada. She also Augustine supports the Jean Augustine Scholarship Fund, which assists single mothers to undertake post-secondary study at George Brown College.
On November 28, 2005, Augustine announced her intention to retire and that she would not be a candidate in the 2006 Canadian election. In 2007, Augustine was nominated by the Government of Ontario to become the first Fairness Commissioner, a position created to advocate for Canadians with foreign professional credentials.
Kim Phuc – Phanthi
Kim Phuc tells an inspiring story of courage and forgiveness unlike any other. Once an iconic child symbol of war, she is now a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Culture of Peace. Her remarkable journey has taken her from Vietnam to Cuba and finally, in 1992, to Canada.Kim Phuc is the nine-year-old girl in the famous Pulitzer-prize winning photo taken by AP photographer Nick Ut. On June 8th, 1972, the day napalm bombs fell on her village of Trang Bang, Kim was photographed fleeing up the road, naked, and screaming in pain. Her skin was on fire and she was terribly wounded. A child’s life changed forever by a bomb and a photograph.
Kim Phuc wasn’t expected to survive, but she did. She survived 17 operations. The photograph that shocked the world may have saved her. Because of the recognition, Kim was moved to the acclaimed Barksky burn clinic and cared for by wonderful doctors. Although Kim still deals with pain, she has healed both physically and emotionally. She leads, not only a “normal” life but an extraordinary life. She speaks around the world at conferences, schools, hospitals, and churches, with presidents, business leaders, and students. Overcoming pain and suffering, learning the importance of freedom and the power of forgiveness, are just a few of the life lessons Kim has to share. She loves to laugh. She is full of strength and compassion. Her determination to survive and her commitment to giving back has made her a remarkable example of resilience and the power of humanity for audiences everywhere. In 1997 she founded The Kim Foundation International, a non-profit organization that partners to fund projects to help child victims of war.
Today Kim Phuc is a Canadian citizen. She lives in the Toronto area with her husband, Toan, their two sons, Thomas and Stephen and her parents. In 1997, she was named a Lifetime UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace. She is an Honorary Member of Rotary, a member of the Advisory Board for the Wheelchair Foundation, a Member of the Advisory Board of Free Children’s Foundation in Canada, and the World Children’s Center in Atlanta Ga., USA. Kim is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and the 2004 “Order of Ontario”. She holds honorary doctorate degrees from universities in Canada and Australia.
Judy Rebick
Judy is a prominent journalist, activist, and feminist. Rebick first gained prominence as a feminist advocate as president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women from 1990-1993. She went onto to a number of media roles, including co-hosting the CBC debate show Face Off, and then the women’s show Straight From the Hip. She regularly appeared on CBC TV’s Sunday Report and CBC Radio. In 2001, she co-founded rabble.ca, Canada’s most widely read left-wing independent news site, and was publisher there from 2001 until 2005.
Rebick has also been involved in shaping national politics. Her efforts with the New Politics Initiative helped to reorient the federal New Democratic Party to more grassroots and activist activity. Rebick is also the author of “Ten Thousand Roses: The Making of a Feminist Revolution” (2005) and “Transforming Power: From the Personal to the Political” (2009), and “Occupy This” (2012) based on her experiences visiting and promoting Occupy camps. She is currently the Canadian Auto Workers–Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Metta Spencer
Metta is a sociologist, writer, peace researcher, and activist. She serves on the steering committee of the International Peace Bureau. Spencer spent many years as an academic in the US and Canada. After completing a Ph.D. in Sociology in 1969 at the University of California, Berkeley, Spencer joined the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto’s Erindale College in 1971. There she also founded the university’s Peace and Conflict Studies Program, and coordinated until her retirement in 1997. Spencer has specialized in peace and war studies and has been active in the Canadian peace movement.
As the founding president and director of the Canadian Disarmament Information Service (CANDIS), she published the monthly Peace Calendar from 1983 to 1985, when the publication changed to a magazine format and took the name, Peace Magazine. In 2009, Spencer organized the Zero Nuclear Weapons public forum in Toronto, jointly sponsored by four major Canadian peace organizations with which she has been involved since the mid-80s: Physicians for Global Survival, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate organization Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and Science for Peace. She has also extensively researched peace and conflict in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
In 1997, she organized “The Lessons of Yugoslavia,” a three-day Science for Peace conference at the University of Toronto. In 2011, she published “The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy,” the culmination of 28 years of research and hundreds of interviews with Russian politicians and activists. More recently, Spencer has become involved in climate change and has researched edutainment or social change through storytelling. She is the author of the book “Two Aspirins and a Comedy: How Television Can Enhance Health and Society” (2006), wherein she argues that television could be a force for health and social change.