Ceasefire Canada (Ceasefire.ca) was founded in 2003 by

Steven Staples Steven Staples is a Canadian policy analyst. He is president of Public Response, a digital agency that services non-profit organizations and trade unions in the fields of online engagement and government relations. He also founded the Rideau Ins ...

and Peter Coombes to prevent

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from joining the U.S Ballistic Missile Defense program. Staples and Coombes were inspired by the success of web-based campaigns such as

Moveon.org MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroot ...

. Ceasefire.com was intended to be a web-based tool for citizen action on Canadian government policy. In 2007 Ceasefire.ca moved to the Rideau Institute under the direction of

. Over the years it has been involved in a number of campaigns. It was involved in the campaign against the

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's Star Wars program, it helped push many Canadian politicians to oppose the war in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, allowed US war resisters to stay in

, called for the ban on deadly

cluster bombs A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...

, lobbied for the abolishment of

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

, and worked to prevent the weaponization of space. From its humble beginnings Ceasefire.ca has grown to a membership of 15,000 subscribers who receive online bulletins and take part in online letter writing campaigns. Also, over 1000 have become donors and help fund the organization's campaign work and research activities.Ceasefire.ca

Activities

Blog posts

One of the key features on the Ceasefire.ca website is the regular blog posts on issues that Ceasefire.ca is involved with. These range from the

War in Afghanistan (2001–present) War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the Atomic nucleus, nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear ...

missile defence Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...

to Canadian military spending. Posts are provided by staff, students and interns. Many volunteers and interns are students from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

and

Saint Paul University Saint Paul University (french: Université Saint-Paul) is a bilingual Catholic Pontifical university federated with the University of Ottawa since 1965. It is located on Main Street in Canada's capital city, Ottawa, Ontario. Fully bilingual, it ...

. The blogs are edited by Bill Robinson who has been writing on Canadian defence and security policy issues since 1983. He was also a member of Project Ploughshares. In addition he has contributed to Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the

Polaris Institute The Polaris Institute is a Canadian think tank based in Ottawa, Ontario. Its stated goal is "to help empower citizen movements towards democratic social change". It was formed in 1997 in response to its view that citizens were becoming politically ...

, the

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) is an independent think tank in Canada. It has been described as "left leaning". The CCPA concentrates on economic policy, international trade, environmental justice and social policy. It is ...

and the Rideau Institute on International Affairs.

Action Alerts

Ceasefire.ca mobilizes its members to take action on issues that affect peace and justice. Through its Action Alerts it raises awareness for its surveys, letter writing and postcard campaigns. Examples of this would be a letter writing campaign calling for an inquiry into the torture scandal and the campaign for a federal department for peace.

Events

Ceasefire.ca also works to promote events that work towards peace. It makes its subscribers aware of guest speakers, forums, book launches and other peace related events.

Media coverage

The site covers media content by make the public aware of major reports, studies and news stories.

The newsletter is a service that the public can subscribe to. Sent out once or twice a month, the newsletter makes its subscribers aware of all the latest news on the issues concerning Canada, peace and justice.

Supporters

With over 15,000 subscribers and 1000 donors Ceasefire.ca works to promotes peace and justice. They have also attracted key supporters such as

David Suzuki David Takayoshi Suzuki (born March 24, 1936) is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster, and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department at th ...

Matthew Good Matthew Frederick Robert Good (born June 29, 1971) is a Canadian musician. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the Matthew Good Band, one of the most successful alternative rock bands in Canada during the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the ...

Maude Barlow Maude Victoria Barlow (born May 24, 1947) is a Canadian author and activist. She is a founding member of the Council of Canadians, a citizens' advocacy organization with members and chapters across Canada. She is also the co-founder of the Blue ...

Mel Hurtig Mel Hurtig (1932–2016) was a Canadian publisher, author, political activist, and political candidate. He was president of the Edmonton Art Gallery. He described himself as a Canadian nationalist, while he also wrote several books critical of ...

and

Helen Caldicott Helen Mary Caldicott (born 7 August 1938) is an Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate. She founded several associations dedicated to opposing the use of nuclear power, depleted uranium munitions, nuclear weapons, nuclear we ...

Notes

External links

Ceasefire.ca Canada websiteRideau Institute on International Affairs website
Peace organizations based in Canada Organizations established in 2003