Ministry of Peace

OTTAWA--The Green Party of Canada wholeheartedly supports a private members bill introduced this month by NDP MP Bill Siksay and Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis calling for the creation of a Ministry of Peace, which would train peace professionals in order to resolve violent conflicts within Canada and around the world.  “The Green Party has had a Department of Peace policy for twenty years and have had it as our main foreign policy platform in the last three elections and we are delighted that the other parties share our vision,” said Ellen Michelson, Green Party of Canada Peace and Security Critic.

“This kind of co-operation is an example of what Greens would promote and deepen in the House,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May.  May had campaigned for a Department of Peace while running against the Minister of Defence in Central Nova during the last election.

Other countries, including Nepal, Solomon Islands, and Costa Rica have established a Department of Peace as part of their governments.

“Promoting a culture of peace and non-violence is one of the key values of the Green Party,” said May. “It is about changing our mindset to focus on peace and making war a relic of the past.  Regaining Canada’s international reputation as peacekeepers can be accomplished through a Department of Peace that focuses more on developing community-based green economies, on poverty alleviation and on programmes to combat and adapt to climate change.”

The Green Party believes that foreign policy should support self-determination, human rights, democratic governance, environmental sustainability and the growth of international institutions. For the Green Party, a philosophy of international cooperation and peacekeeping leads to greater global security.  A key part of this is creating fair economic relationships with emerging countries and focusing on promoting human rights and sustainability.

 
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Contact:
Debra Eindiguer
Press Secretary
(c) 613-240-8921
media@greenparty.ca
www.greenparty.ca