Douglas James Roche,
OC, KCSG (born June 14, 1929) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
author, parliamentarian, diplomat and peace activist. Roche served as
Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for
Edmonton—Strathcona
Edmonton Strathcona (formerly known as Edmonton—Strathcona) is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1953. It spans the south central part of the city of Edmonton. ...
from 1972 to 1979 and for
Edmonton South 1979–1984. In 1984, he was appointed Canada's Ambassador for Disarmament, a position he held until 1989. He was appointed to the
Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the ...
on September 17, 1998, where he served until June 13, 2004. Currently he resides in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
.
History
Born in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...
, Douglas Roche has long been concerned with the issue of
nuclear disarmament
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
*Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
* Nuclear space
* Nuclea ...
. He was elected Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee, the main
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
body dealing with political and security issues, at the 43rd General Assembly in 1988. He is also the author of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to thirteen more, including ''Creative Dissent: A Politician's Struggle for Peace'' (Novalis, 2008). From 1989 to 2001, he was appointed Visiting Professor at the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...
, where he taught "War or Peace in the 21st Century?" In 1997, he was chosen by the Students' Union to receive a SALUTE Award for "outstanding contributions to students".
He is an Officer of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
, and a leading organizer of the project in which more than 500 members of the Order of Canada have endorsed a call for Canada to commit to working with other countries to achieve a Nuclear Weapons Convention, which would be a global ban on nuclear weapons.
[
He is the founding Chairman of the ]Middle Powers Initiative
The Middle Powers Initiative (MPI), a program of the Global Security Institute, is dedicated to the worldwide reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons, in a series of well-defined stages accompanied by increasing verification and control.
Th ...
, co-sponsored by eight international non-governmental organizations specializing in nuclear disarmament; he now serves as Senior Advisor to the current Chairman, Ambassador Henrik Salander of Sweden.
In 1995, Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
presented him with the Papal Medal for his service as Special Adviser on disarmament and security matters. In 1998, the Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
named him a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
Roche has served as President of the United Nations Association in Canada and was elected in 1985 as Honorary President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations
The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) (French: ''Fédération Mondiale des Associations pour les Nations Unies'', FMANU) was founded in 1946 as a Federation of national associations. Its objectives are to promote the values o ...
. He was the founding President of Parliamentarians for Global Action
Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of committed legislators, that informs and mobilizes parliamentarians in all regions of the world to advocate for human rights and the rule of law, democr ...
, an international network of 1,300 parliamentarians in 99 countries, and wrote ''The Case for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly'' in 2002. He was also founding editor of the '' Western Catholic Reporter'' (1965–1972); and International Chairman (1990–1996) of Global Education Associates.
In 2009, Roche was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians
The Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians (CAFP) is a non-profit organization, established by an Act of the Parliament of Canada, the membership of which is composed of former members of the Senate or House of Commons of Canada.
History ...
, "presented annually to a former parliamentarian who has made an outstanding contribution to the country and its democratic institutions." Roche was cited in particular "for his years of Parliamentary service, for his contribution to and respect for the institution of Parliament and for his continued interest and activity in the promotion of human welfare, human rights and parliamentary democracy in Canada and abroad."
Published works
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Archives
There is a Douglas Roche fonds
In archival science, a fonds is a group of documents that share the same origin and that have occurred naturally as an outgrowth of the daily workings of an agency, individual, or organization. An example of a fonds could be the writings of a poe ...
at Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...
.
See also
*List of peace activists
This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work wi ...
References
External links
Personal website
*
Global Security Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roche, Douglas
1929 births
Canadian diplomats
Canadian political scientists
Canadian Roman Catholics
Canadian senators from Alberta
Independent Canadian senators
Living people
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta
Officers of the Order of Canada
Politicians from Montreal
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs
University of Alberta faculty
21st-century Canadian politicians
Canadian anti–nuclear weapons activists