Our Objectives

• Advance Canadian and international security policies that reduce the resort to military force in response to conflict 
• Promote a people-centred approach to security that includes disarmament, democracy, development, diplomacy and defence

Our Recent Initiatives

• 2011
  In March, Executive Director John Siebert attended a conference in Winnipeg sponsored by the University of Winnipeg and Mennonite Central Committee Canada on development, complex emergencies and the Responsibility to Protect.

• 2010
  In November, on behalf of The Canadian Council of Churches, John Siebert spoke to the House of Commons Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan, focusing on the importance of diplomacy and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
  In October, John Siebert made a presentation on the proposed purchase by Canada of the F-35 fighter aircraft to a teach-in held at the University of Waterloo. The event was organized by Historians Against the War.
  In October, John Siebert presented "Africa in Canada's Current Foreign and Defence Policy" at the Africa-Canada Forum Colloquium at the Canadian Council for International Co-operation office in Ottawa.
  In September, John Siebert and Senior Program Officer Ken Epps spoke to the same committee regarding the announced purchase of 65 F-35 aircraft.
  In June, Co-founder Ernie Regehr spoke to the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence, focusing on three interrelated themes: the distinction between peacekeeping and combat models of military engagement, the limits of force in promoting peace and security and the core requirement for strategic consent in peace support operations.
  In April, John Siebert attended an Africa-Canada working group (organized by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation) to present the role of Canada’s defence policy in support of African peace.
  In January, Ernie Regehr participated in an eight-day visit to Kabul with members of the Pathways to Peace Steering Committee. Pathways to Peace, which is co-sponsored by Project Ploughshares, is a research and public engagement partnership between Canadian NGOs and the University of Kabul to advance the reconciliation agenda in Afghanistan. Ernie Regehr also visited Afghanistan in April for a Pathways to Peace conference.