Hello! My name is Alley McDonald, and I am honoured to be the new National Coordinator of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. I am a peace practitioner with previous experiences working with feminist and peace focused organizations that represent my values, and I am grateful to be able to continue this work with VOW.

I recently graduated from the Masters of Peace and Conflict Studies program at the University of Waterloo. Three important areas of research I focused on were: strategizing the prevention and intervention of gender-based violence against older women in rural, remote and Northern communities of Ontario; considering repair through legal personhood—addressing natural & artificial Canadian persons abusive relationships with the environment; and environmental racism in Chemical Valley impacting the Aamjiwnaang First Nation.

I am a community mediator engaging in transformative and restorative practices and, in my own time, I cultivate knowledge in mycology, of flora and fauna, and developing a deeper connection to the natural world.

Did you know? According to the recent reports from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Canada is ranked 14th highest in the world for military spending at $35.9 billion in 2022.

Read more the about the Trends in World Military Expenditure.

According to SIPRI’s arms transfers report for 2022, Canada is ranked 16th highest in the world for weapons exports.

Read more about the Trends in International Arms Transfers.

The latest federal budget shows a troubling increase to budget of the Department of National Defence for new weapons procurement and new military infrastructure across the country

Read more in the Federal Budget.

Members of VOW and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Canada sent letters to Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae, NDP Defence Critic Lindsay Mathyssen, Senator Marty Deacon, Senator Mobina Jaffer and Senator Marilou McPhedran about our concerns and asked for meetings.

We recently had online meetings with them. We brought to their attention our concerns about Canada’s foreign and defence policies and new federal budget. We discussed the federal government’s rising military spending and arms exports, sending weapons to Ukraine that is prolonging the war, failure to implement the Women Peace and Security agenda, and inadequate action on climate change and poverty. We let them know that we want Canada to cancel the F-35 procurement and to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. We called on them to show leadership on peace and disarmament. We will continue to lobby our elected officials and leaders.

Tamara Lorincz will be representing VOW and WILPF Canada at the International Summit for Peace in Ukraine in Vienna from June 10-11. The summit is organized by the International Peace Bureau. She will be presenting at the summit and bringing information back to Canada. When she returns, she will be speaking in Kelowna, Vancouver and Nanaimo. She is raising money for travel costs, peace buttons and a big peace banner. She will be collecting signatures on a petition calling on the Canadian government to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, to end the violence by all sides Russia, Ukraine and NATO, and to support a negotiated resolution to end the war. VOW will host a webinar with Tamara when she returns. Tamara is still in need of $500 to cover her expenses. If you’d like to support Tamara, you can an e-transfer directly to her at tlorincz@dal.ca

You can read Tamara’s latest article “Calls for peace and end to the war in Ukraine growing worldwide” published in newspapers in February. 

Also, check out “Warmaking is Canada’s feminist foreign policy” published in The Canada Files in April.

Tamara recently spoke in Hamilton on “Overcoming war and militarism for a green, peaceful future.”

VOW celebrates the vibrant and diverse Asian cultures and histories that enrich us. We express our solidarity with activists throughout the Asian Pacific region who are struggling for disarmament and peace like Women Cross the DMZ and Save Jeju Island-No Naval Base. We oppose the militarization of the region by Canada sending warships to the coast of China and North Korea and participating in environmentally damaging naval war games such as RIMPAC. We want friendly relations based on respect for sovereignty and international law with all Asian Pacific countries.

We also take this opportunity to recognize Japanese-Canadian Setsuko Thurlow, a Hiroshima bombing survivor and a VOW honourary member, who has committed her life to nuclear disarmament and world peace.

Read her 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech.

Join VOW members in signing the petition calling upon Prime Minister Trudeau and the federal government to put an end to the continuing miscarriage of justice that Hassan Diab is facing, and refuse any future request for Diab’s extradition to France.