Motto | Yes to peace and international solidarity, No to imperialism and neo-colonialism |
---|---|
Formation | 1949 |
Type | pacifist congress |
Legal status | active |
Purpose | advocate and public voice, educator and coalition |
Headquarters | 125 Brandon Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Region served
|
Canada |
Official language
|
English French |
president
|
Dave McKee |
Main organ
|
Peace Messenger |
Parent organization
|
World Peace Council |
Affiliations | Canadian Peace Alliance World Peace Council |
Website | www.canadianpeacecongress.ca |
The Canadian Peace Congress is an anti-imperialist group founded in 1949 by Canadian minister James Gareth Endicott in response to the new dangers to peace posed because of the Cold War. It described itself as "a place where people of different views and faiths can meet and discuss world affairs... and work together as effectively as possible to improve international relations and step by step [move] towards the goal of universal disarmament and a lasting peace" The CPC was the Canadian affiliate of the World Peace Council and a leading player in the peace movement in Canada, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. The CPC was active in the nuclear disarmament and anti-imperialist movements such as the movement against the Vietnam War and promoted the concept of peaceful co-existence between the Communist bloc and the Western bloc.
The CPC was made up of affiliated local peace councils from across Canada as well as associate members including the Trade Union Peace Committee, the Labor-Progressive Party (as the Communist Party of Canada was then known), the Federation of Russian Canadians and the United Jewish Peoples' Order. Its founding meeting was attended by representatives of 47 different organizations and groups, including women's, youth and church groups, trade unions, and ethnic associations. The organization also worked closely with many CCF activists.
Active councils of the CPC were established in: British Columbia, Calgary, Edmonton, Fraser Valley, Guelph, Halifax, Hamilton, Kamsack, London, Niagara, Peterborough, Saskatoon, Sydney, Thunder Bay, Vernon, Victoria, and Windsor. These councils were active in campaigns against the Korean War, Vietnam War, the military coup in Chile, South African Apartheid, Zionism, US interventions into Nicaragua and Panama, NORAD and NATO as well as the arms race and nuclear build-up.