Science for Peace 2025 AGM

Report to the Science for Peace 2025 AGM

In my report to the 2024 Annual General Meeting, I expressed our concern and dismay over the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Unfortunately, one year later these wars persist unabated, and continue to cause the deaths of thousands of civilians in the Middle East and Ukraine. In addition, during the last two weeks, Israel and the US launched unprovoked attacks on Iran. Although currently a ceasefire is in effect, the situation is very unstable and it’s hard to predict how it will evolve.

In the case of Gaza, the civilian deaths are being caused not only by weapons, but also by starvation and disease generated by the blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel with the unconditional support of the USA. According to UNICEF, over 50,000 children have been killed or injured in Gaza, along with a 150% rise in child malnutrition.

These three conflicts involve three countries, Russia, USA and Israel, that possess nuclear weapons, which raises the possibility of their use with devastating consequences - not only for the belligerent countries, but also for the rest of the world. Moreover, these conflicts are being used by the military-industrial complex worldwide to promote a dramatic increase in military spending, with NATO countries committing now to spend 5 % of their GDP on the military. According to Prime Minister Carney the 5 % of Canadian GDP will represent a military budget of at least $150 billion.

2024 was the warmest year on record, marking the first time an entire calendar year exceeded the 1.5-degree threshold above pre-industrial levels. Very relevant to Science for Peace concerns is the fact that the current wars and growing militarism are making significant contributions to the warming of our planet. To make things worse, the Trump administration is reversing all the policies previously established in the US to combat the climate crisis. This reversal is having a profound negative influence over many other governments around the world, including the Canadian government.

Facing this terrible state of world’s affairs, many would say that there is nothing we can do to stop all the ongoing killing, destruction, militarism, and the climate crisis. At Science for Peace, we say that wars are not inevitable, that the climate crisis can be solved, and that by participating in organizations like ours, we have the possibility of having an impact in the struggle for a more peaceful and livable world.

Last January, Donald Trump became the president of the US. In one of his first statements, Trump declared that he wants to incorporate Canada as the 51st state of the US, driven in part by his desire to control Canada’s natural resources. In response to this threat, Science for Peace made a public statement. In this statement we affirm that “Canada must resist this encroachment with all nonviolent means” and that “In the medium- and longer-term Canada should develop policies that will make our country less dependent on the USA. These policies should include the diversification of our exports, the consolidation of Canadian democratic institutions, and the defense of our society from disinformation and foreign interference”.

More recently, Science for Peace produced a second statement in response to the impact generated by Trump’s policies. In this document, entitled “Canada needs a broader conception of security in a world of multiple crisis”, Science for Peace makes several specific proposals including : 1) A greater independence of Canadian armed forces from the US armed forces and arms suppliers, 2) The need for Canada’s armed forces to develop an enhanced capability to operate in the Arctic; 3) The reinstitution of a Civil Defence Corps; 4) The involvement of the Canadian armed forces in some non-traditional tasks of high social value such as peacekeeping, combatting natural emergencies, and cooperation with the Civil Defense Corps; 5) Participation of the Canadian government as an observer at the Meetings of the parties to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; 6) Canadian support for multilateral institutions that promote international law such as the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice; 7) The maintenance or increase of the Canadian budget for international aid.

Science for Peace was one of the organizations that recently signed a letter from the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney. In this letter the network described the danger that nuclear weapons represent for humanity’s survival, and the alarming risks of a renewed nuclear arms race, urging the Prime Minister to play a leading role in nuclear disarmament.

Another important initiative in which Science for Peace participated last year was the Walk for Peace in Nova Scotia, in which dozens of peace and indigenous activists walked 200 km from Pugwash to Halifax. Along the walk the participants were able to visit several schools where young students had the opportunity to learn about the threat that nuclear arms pose to the world.

The ongoing genocide in Gaza triggered massive protests around the world. As part of these protests, university students across North America organized encampments in many campuses. The encampment at the University of Toronto lasted several months and had a profound impact. Science for Peace visited the encampments several times bringing our solidarity with the students and faculty.

Towards the end of last year, the Student Club of Science for Peace was re-activated and officially recognized. We believe that this club could play an important role in reaching the young generation with our ideas. We have to acknowledge that, unfortunately, most students are unaware of the threats that nuclear arsenals pose to humanity’s survival, and changing this sad state of affairs is one of the main goals of our organization.

One of the weaknesses that we have not been able to correct during last year has been the lack of regular meetings of our Working Groups. We should continue to debate how we can solve this long-standing problem. Are there better ways to facilitate the participation of our members?

During last year Science for Peace continued with its traditional educational activity. We organized several talks with prominent speakers, including Douglas Roche, Michael Byers, Richard Sandbrook, and Jamila Raqib. In addition, we organized a debate around the question of Canada’s participation in NATO with Walter Dorn and Arnd Jurgensen as speakers.

Science for Peace has remained very active in social media during last year, and our website has been renovated and improved. However, our reach remains limited. We invite our members to provide new ideas as to how we can improve our social media impact.

As part of our educational activities, we published several articles in our website. I was particularly interested in an article written by Vladimir Zaghora, a member of our Board, in which he describes the dramatic impact of the civil war in Sudan, which continues to cause the death of thousands and thousands of civilians. Another article that I found particularly interesting is the one written by our Vice President Richard Sandbrook in which he proposes that Canada’s national security plans must include training in non-violent civilian defence.

During last year Science for Peace supported the research activity of four Blumenfeld Junior Fellows. One of the fellows, Emily Hannan, has published in our website an interesting article entitled “Finding glimmers of climate hope in the age of Trump”.

Sadly, during last year Science for Peace lost two members of our Board of Directors: Phyllis Creighton and Judith Deutsch. Both of them made an enormous contribution to Science for Peace for many years, and they will be missed by all the members of Science for Peace who had the privilege of working with them. Needless to say, the best way to honour Judy’s and Phyllis’ lives is to redouble our commitment to work for a more peaceful world.

Jorge Filmus

President, Science for Peace