Ottawa, Canada - Canada’s Ambassadors for Peace drew upon their nation’s principal role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, developing UN peacekeeping forces, and offering a warm welcome to people in planning their Global Peace Festival October 2-5, 2008.

The theme of the conference was “Educating for Peace.” Canada is among 30 nations in the world where peace activists are developing a Citizens Peace Corps and promoting a Ministry of Peace or Department of Peace.

Excerpts of keynote address at the Global Peace Festival, Ottawa, Canada, October 4, 2008

Esteemed dignitaries, family, friends, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Global Peace Festival in beautiful Ottawa, Canada. It is a great honor and pleasure to be with you today.

Today I want to share a vision of peace. To begin with, we must admit that we will have to be bold and break new ground in our search for peace and prosperity, if we are to really go beyond the failures of our past.

Ottawa, Canada - The Global Peace Festival is bringing together people of passion and insight who share the vision of creating “One Family Under God.” The idea of being part of a larger global community of peace is obviously particularly attractive in nations that are still developing, or that are coping with recent challenges of violence and conflict. But what about nations of the First World that are perhaps more settled, perhaps even satisfied with the way things are?

These were among the challenging questions to be debated at the Canadian Leadership Conference on the theme “Educating for Peace.” It takes place October 2-5 in Ottawa, the seat of Canadian government and home to 126 embassies and high commissions, along with universities, high-tech industries, news media, and NGOs from around the nation and the world.

Ottawa, Canada - Over 50 UPF Ambassadors for Peace gathered at Les Suites Hotel in Ottawa, Canada for the first national planning conference in preparation for the Canada Peace Festival. Participants came from the Greater Toronto, Greater Montreal and Ottawa areas. Interest in the mini-conference was beyond the expectations of the organizer’s and as the representative of a major Ottawa interfaith coalition remarked, he found all the participants to be highly motivated.