From October 28-November 11, Peace Quest Cape Breton will be distributing white poppies in commemoration of all victims of all wars, and to symbolize our commitment to fight non-violently to build a world free of the threat of conventional conflict and nuclear annihilation. 

The white poppy campaign was started in the UK in 1933 by the Co-Operative Women’s Guild, composed largely of mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, lovers and friends of men slaughtered or maimed (in body and mind) in the ‘Great War’. Since 1936, the poppies have been distributed each remembrance season by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), which annually declares: “By encouraging us to tackle the causes of war such as inequality and the arms trade, and to foster nonviolent alternatives, the white poppy helps build a culture of peace.”    

The PPU is part of the global ‘World Beyond War’ network, and in October Peace Quest Cape Breton joined that network by signing a Pledge declaring – 

We understand that wars and militarism make us less safe rather than protect us, that they kill, injure and traumatize adults, children, and infants, severely damage the natural environment, erode civil liberties, and drain our economies, siphoning resources from life-affirming activities. We commit to engage in and support nonviolent efforts to end all war and to create a sustainable and just peace. 

World Beyond War also campaigns for the abolition of conscription, and for the right of every human being to conscientiously object to being forced to fight, die, and kill for the state: a right today being denied, on a vast scale, in both Ukraine and Russia, and many other war-torn places.  

Peace Quest members and supporters wishing to sign World Beyond War’s Individual Pledge can do so at https://worldbeyondwar.org/individual/