Canadian Peace Congress


Canadian Peace Congress
The Canadian Peace Congress hosted the 2nd Tri-Lateral Conference with our fraternal intenational organizations in the US and Mexico which was held in Toronto ON October 2-4, 2009.

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Member of World Peace Council


Canadian Peace Congress Youth Report on WPC World Peace Conference in Caracas

5/11/2008 7:49:28 PM - Matt Gehl

Caracas, Venezuela, the newly decreed world capital of peace and anti-imperialist struggle, played host to the World Peace Council (WPC) April 8-13, 2008.The week began with a meeting of the WPC Executive Committee, of which Canada is one of 40 seats, followed by two days of the Assembly of the WPC, two days of WPC Conferences and concluding with a day of action in solidarity with the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, falling on the sixth anniversary of the attempted 2002 coup detat.The event, considered a rousing success, drew 265 delegates and 285 participants from 124 organizations representing 76 countries, culminating with a street demonstration of approximately 200,000 people on the thirteenth.The host organization, the Committee for International Solidarity of Venezuela (COSI), and the Venezuelan government went out of their way ensuring that the event was successful providing all the facilities, translators, meals and hotel rooms for their guests.In exchange, those who were lucky enough to attend left with a renewed optimism in the strength of the world movement for peace.

It is that momentum that is so desperately needed in Canada.Our country is currently being taken down a path of imperialism and expanding militarism, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.Without a strong, united voice in opposition to this neo-liberal agenda the Canadian government will continue to use our perceived position as a peace keeping country to camouflage their increasingly hostile foreign policy.Having the WPC event in South America allowed the Canadian contingent to speak with many people about Canadas exploitative business practices on the continent, especially in the mining sector.Many of those brittle preconceptions of Canada were shattered with the some of the facts of Canadas recent strong turn towards imperialism.
Canadas peace movement was well represented in Caracas by a six person delegation from the Canadian Peace Congress (CPCon).Canada was vocal in the Executive Committee meeting, rose to speak during the first day of the Assembly, was an active participant during the Regional Meetings and chaired the third of four World Peace Conferences on the topic of defending peoples rights.Also, outside of the official program, a tri-lateral meeting was held between the delegations from Canada, USA and Mexico.At this meeting a proposal was accepted to have Canada host a tri-lateral meeting in the Autumn of 2009 in order for undivided attention to be paid to the issues that uniquely affect North America, such as the Security Prosperity Partnership (SPP) or the February 14, 2008 Civil Assistance Plan agreement between the Canadian and US militaries.It was also decided that this meeting should proceed under the auspices of the WPC Regional Coordinator for the Americas and also to include our comrades from MOVPAZ, the Cuban Peace Movement.
The CPCon was a founding member of the WPC in 1949 and for many decades was a leader in the social movement for peace and against war and imperialism.The CPCon gained most of its prominence with the anti-nuclear weapons campaigns and demonstrations against the Vietnam war of the 1960s and 1970s.The Congress was dissolved in 1990 before being officially reconstituted on April 8, 2006.Only fitting then that the two year anniversary of the re-founding was celebrated with delegates at a WPC event.For the CPCon to have such an active presence in Caracas is a reinvigorating boost to an organization that is seeking to regain the membership and role it once had.
The WPC also experienced hard times during the 1990s but has recently experienced a resurgence after the 1996 Congress in Mexico.The events in Caracas served to demonstrate this.Sean Currie, the Secretary-Treasurer of the Edmonton Peace Council and the chair of the third conference, visited Caracas in August 2007 in preparation for the April event.Upon arriving and seeing the continual stream of new arrivals to the hotel, Currie was taken aback with how the level of participation in the event had ballooned beyond the 25 countries they had hoped for in August.This was the first time that the WPC Assembly had been held in South America, and regardless to say, the response was affirming to the movement.
Besides the enormous Venezuelan presence at the weeks festivities, there was good representation from many other countries, including roughly 80 people from various Brazilian organizations.The Japanese delegation was also strong.As usual they were very prominent with their campaigns against nuclear weapons and foreign military bases, two issues that affect Japan perhaps more than any other nation.It was not just formal peace organizations that sent large groups to Caracas for that week.A bus with 26 like minded, peace loving people, mostly students, from the Colombian province of Santa Marta made the 20 hour trip to Caracas to use the event as a fact finding mission on how to work towards peace in a country so torn by war and at the heart of American and Canadian intervention in the region.
Besides the solidarity with the peace movement shown in Caracas, the other most obvious trait was the revolutionary spirit of the Venezuelan people themselves, especially the youth.The Bolivarian revolution of Venezuela has been accepted and embraced by the people, regardless of what the American and Canadian capitalist propaganda machine would like people to believe.Talking to the citizens of Caracas that one would run into during the week, you would find an uncanny understanding of the situation.
The people of Venezuela see their nationalized industries going to work for them.There can be no more poignant example of this than the state run petroleum company, PDVSA and the success at retaking their oil from foreign companies, namely Exxon-Mobil.The people believe that their countrys resources should be used for the benefit of the people and not exported into foreign coffers, and are willing to defend their right to self-determination against foreign interference.The massive size of Venezuelas petroleum reserves and the skyrocketing price of oil are now being harnessed to fund the Bolivarian Missions; accomplishing tasks such as eradicating illiteracy within six years of Chvezs 1999 election and restoring land titles and human rights to Venezuelan indigenous populations.
It is not simply the old guard that is trumpeting the values of socialist economic development but everyone.The number of young people involved and active in Caracas was startling, especially to Canadian eyes.Members of the Young Socialists and Young Communists of Venezuela were out in full force everyday, both as participants in the events and as a small army of volunteers.They are more optimistic about their futures now that the wealth of the nation is being shared and not stolen.With free university education and the constant opportunity to be involved on the front lines of revolution has the young people of Venezuela politically supercharged.
This is what the CPCon saw and brought back with them.All through Caracas, people were standing in unison with the call for peace, self-determination and human rights.For a peace organization trying to redefine itself in a new generation, the example of the youth of Venezuela is an invaluable lesson.There must be a changing of the guard and for that to happen it requires the young people to step up and fill the roles formerly held by those people who have been struggling for decades.
Never has the need for a strong, informed and passionate voice to resonate up from the youth of the nation been so dire.Before Canada can be led down a path that is not the will of the people, the politicians, lobbyists and corporate executives must be told no!The current economic model has left Canada, a country of embarrassing riches, with crumbling social programs and public infrastructure, an escalating environmental catastrophe, Aboriginal populations living under neo-colonial control and a voting public that leaves the polling stations (if they even go) feeling highly unsatisfied with the options available to them.Behind all of those problems is the need for peace and a stop to increasing military budgets and wars of imperialist intervention.The wealth of a nation cannot benefit both the corporate executives and warmongers and the people at the same time.
The Canadian Peace Congress encourages all Canadians who desire a world of peace and international solidarity, free of war and imperialism, to search out and join their local peace council or find some other way of making your voice heard.The CPCon will be convening some time in the near future to appoint a new executive committee.For updates on the situation or more information about the CPCon, WPC or the events of Caracas, visit : www.canadianpeacecongress.ca.