By WBW Greater Toronto Area (GTA), December 2, 2022
Mayssan Shuja has joined Peter Jones to inspire and organize a Toronto-based chapter for World BEYOND War. Peter has been the chapter chair in name since hosting the 2018 NoWar 2018 Conference at OCAD University, that brought together peace groups from across Canada and around the world. Since then, WBW has flourished in Canada and partners on events with all peace movement groups. However, as the Greater Toronto area has such a range of prior groups already, we have seen more of a role in cohering and combining forces than in starting something completely new. It’s a big city with many actions to support.
Recently, the new GTA team held a small workshop at Peter’s home to hand-craft white peace poppies in time to hand out at Remembrance Day events during the week of November 11th. Drawing a small group of other peace leaders, with 8 attending from Pax Christi, Voice of Women for Peace, and Communist Party of Canada, we hosted an open afternoon party to learn and make the classic white poppy. A batch of homemade peace poppies was made up, and delivered to people on Remembrance Day, November 11 at Yonge-Dundas Square. Joining the Common Thread in the Streets choir, the group grew in size as more joined after noon, handing out white poppies to many new peacemakers.
The GTA chapter looks forward to organizing additional anti-war/pro-peace actions in the new year.
