Our June newsletter is being brought to you by our National Coordinator Alley McDonald and Co-Chair Lyn Adamson. We are announcing VOW's 2023 Strawberry Social & Fundraiser, VOW Member Tamara Lorincz heading to the International Summit for Peace in Ukraine, and Parliamentary Petition e-4447 that needs signed by June 14th!

Show VOW some love this month!  Join, make a donation, become a monthly supporter. 

OTTAWA — Over a hundred people have disrupted the opening of CANSEC, North America’s largest military weapons convention in Ottawa, where 10,000 attendees were expected to gather.

Activists carrying 50 foot banners saying “Stop Profiting from War,” “Arms Dealers Not Welcome” and holding dozens of “War Crimes Start Here” signs blocked vehicle and pedestrian entrances as attendees attempted to register for and enter the convention centre, delaying Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand’s opening keynote address for over an hour.

The protest was convened to “oppose CANSEC and the profiteering from war and violence it is designed to support”, promising to “make it impossible for anyone to come anywhere near their weapons fair without confronting the violence and bloodshed these arms dealers are complicit in.”

Tamara Lorincz in photo on the left.

Tamara Lorincz, VOW's Senior Researcher and Campaigner, is attending the upcoming "International Summit for Peace in Ukraine" in Vienna, Austria this month, and will be one of the Voices for Peace. 

The aim of the International Peace Summit is to publish an urgent global appeal, the Vienna Declaration
for Peace, calling on political actors to work for a ceasefire and negotiations in Ukraine. Prominent international speakers will point to the danger around the growing escalation of the war in Ukraine and
call for a reversal towards a peace process.

Speakers include: Former Colonel and Diplomat Ann Wright, USA; Prof. Anuradha Chenoy, India;
Advisor to the President of Mexico Father Alejandro Solalinde, Mexico Member of the European
Parliament Clare Daly, Ireland; Vice President David Choquehuanca, Bolivia; Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, USA;
Former UN Diplomat Michael von der Schulenburg, Germany; as well as peace activists from Ukraine
and Russia.

The conference will also discuss controversial issues related to Russia's war of aggression in violation of
international law War. Civil society representatives from across Europe, North America, Russia and
Ukraine will discuss together along side participants from the Global South to report on and discuss the
dramatic consequences of this war for the people in their countries as well as how they can contribute
to peace. The conference will focus not only on criticism and analysis, but also on creative solutions and
ways to end the war and prepare for negotiations. This is not only the task of states and diplomats, but
nowadays more and more the task of global civil society and especially the peace movement.

The International Peace Summit will be held in a hybrid format with the opportunity to join the conference virtually- More information will be coming soon to their website.

Join author Yves Engler on Mondays for a weekly news roundup and interactive discussion about Canada’s role abroad.

This weekly session will delve into the latest developments on subjects ranging from military affairs and Canada’s role in Ukraine to its contribution to Palestinian dispossession and exploitation of African resources. Join Yves for a critical take on Canada’s foreign policy. Questions, comments and criticisms are all welcome.

Mondays 6:00 PM EDT

Yves Engler has authored 10 books and hundreds of articles on Canadian foreign policy. He played a role in establishing Block the Empire, Canada Haiti Action Network and Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and has directly challenged ministers and prime ministers on international issues.

Join Science for Peace for "Might the Ukraine Conflict Spark a Nuclear War?"

Many analysts have expressed concern that the Ukraine war could escalate to a nuclear exchange, especially if Russia faces military defeat. How probable is this outcome, and how may the risk of such an eventuality be minimized?

Speakers:

Arnd Jurgensen lectures in international relations at University of Toronto, and is an executive member of science for peace.

Robin Collins is currently Co-Chair of the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and Secretary of Canadian Pugwash Group. He has published short commentaries about UN reform, disarmament and a variety of global governance ideas.

Key Note Speaker: Tamara Lorincz a PhD candidate at the Balsillie School ofInternational Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University; works with Canadian Voice of Women for Peace and other Canadian and international peace, socioeconomic justice and environmental groups.

Afternoon Panel: Tamara Lorincz; Payton Maffioli; Graham Watt.

Followed by: Your suggested solutions

For Information: email: L4peace@telus.net or call Laura @ 250-444-0524

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) in partnership with the
Freedom from War Coalition presents a panel discussion entitled ‘Making Space for Peace:
Ending the Russian-Ukrainian War’. This is a free event and all are welcome to attend.

Our panel will consist of our guest presenter Tamara Lorincz, local peace activist Kaeli Wood and a
representative from the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians – to be announced.

Tamara Lorincz is a PhD candidate in Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has a Masters in International Politics & Security studies from the
University of Bradford and a Law Degree and MBA from Dalhousie University.

Tamara is a member of the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom / Canada Section. She will just have returned from attending and speaking at the ‘International Summit for Peace in Ukraine’ June 10th and 11th in Vienna, Austria. Last November, Tamara did a month-long tour in Egypt, Russia, Finland, Latvia, Poland and Romania. During her trip that she titled “Climate, Conflict and the Search for Peace”, she met with activists and academics in every country and with Ukrainian refugees in Poland. She was invited to speak at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and at a public event in Helsinki. Her tour was
motivated by citizen diplomacy, strategic empathy and peace building. Tamara will have a lot to share with us.
This discussion will include an open floor for question and comments at the end of the presentations. 

For more info about this event contact:
Dyane Brown (WILPF): dyanebrown@shaw.ca |
Eden Haythornthwaite (FFWC): haythornthwaite@shaw.ca

Media interviews with Tamara could be scheduled for the afternoon of June 22nd
Tamara’s Phone #: 226-505-9469 / Email: tlorincz@dal.ca

CDPQ (pension fund company): $14B of contributors and pensioners money invested in companies complicit with Israeli war crimes.

$2.4+B invested in a dozen companies that are listed on the UN Data base as violating international law.

"Similar to the last two years, the CDPQ continues to invest heavily in Israeli war crimes, approaching at least 5% of the total portfolio" says Bruce Katz a retired Montreal school teacher and cofounder of Palestinian and Jewish Unity. "It is upsetting that the CDPQ continues to be invested in companies that are named in the United Nations (UN) Database of companies complicit with human rights violations by Israel against the people of Palestine," says John Philpot, a Montreal based lawyer and on the board of Just Peace Advocates.   

In June, in honour of Indigenous History Month, we invite and encourage you to appreciate the rich culture and heritage of Indigenous peoples, while learning more about the atrocities that Indigenous communities have faced and continue to face today.

VOW is committed to continued learning, unlearning, and reflection in order to strengthen our mission, approaches to peace, and reconciliatory actions.

Discover Indigenous History Month reading suggestions, programs, educational resources and community events below.

National Indigenous Peoples Day takes place on the summer solstice, June 21. It’s a special occasion to learn more about the rich and diverse cultures, voices, experiences and histories of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) is a national Indigenous organization representing political voices of Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit, Transgender, and Gender-Diverse+ (WG2STGD+) People in Canada.

VOW aligns with a variety of important issues that NWAC works on, including: 

• preventing violence
• working to achieve justice
• gender equality
• protecting the environment

We recognize the valuable initiatives directed by NWAC to create change nationally and internationally through education, advocacy, and amplifying women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples voices. 

Please check out NWAC's website to learn more about who they are, sign up for their newsletter, and explore their Knowledge Centre and programs.

An organization working towards great change for the 2SLGBTQI+ community in Canada is Egale. We support their mission, "To improve the lives of 2SLGBTQI people in Canada and to enhance the global response to 2SLGBTQI issues. Egale will achieve this by informing public policy, inspiring cultural change, and promoting human rights and inclusion through research, education, awareness and legal advocacy."

On 19 June 2015, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) (A/RES/69/293) proclaimed 19 June of each year the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, in order to raise awareness of the need to put an end to conflict-related sexual violence, to honour the victims and survivors of sexual violence around the world and to pay tribute to all those who have courageously devoted their lives to and lost their lives in standing up for the eradication of these crimes.

VOW believes strongly in the power of education and awareness raising on important issues of concern, like the tragic sexual violence that takes place during, and in the wake of, armed conflict. Please become informed by reading the Report on Conflict Related Sexual Violence.

"Rising inequality, increased militarization, reduced civic space and the illicit flow of small arms and light weapons also contributed, among other factors, to fuelling widespread and systematic conflict related sexual violence, even in the midst of a global pandemic." -UNGA 2021

These types of findings confirm VOW's ongoing work in gender equality, disarmament, and demilitarization, and support of diplomacy, dialogue, negotiations, and peaceful ceasefire. 

Join VOW members in signing the parliamentary petition e-4447, sponsored by NDP Defence Critic Linsday Mathyssen, to call on the Canadian government to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and to send an official delegation to the second TPNW meeting in New York in November, 2023.

Help us reach 1000 signatures before June 14th, 2023 by signing now!

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.

Photo retrieved from Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network

VOW’s Peace Campaigner, Sarah Rohleder, wrote an insightful article on Canada's role in the Yemeni war that can now be found on our website!

Kyodo News reports: "Many atomic bomb survivors, including campaigner Setsuko Thurlow, voiced anger and disappointment at the Group of Seven nations' summit on Sunday after the leaders released a statement that supported the possession of nuclear weapons for deterrence and failed to mention the treaty banning nuclear arms."

Be sure to renew your membership and donate to support our important work building a culture of peace in Canada and so that we can continue to hire youth throughout the year. Make a donation today!