Project Ploughshares
Contents
About Project Ploughshares
Project Ploughshares takes its name and its vision from the ancient biblical vision in the Book of Isaiah in which the material and human wealth consumed by military preparations are transformed into resources for human development, thereby removing the roots of war itself.
Originally founded in 1976, Ploughshares became a project of the Council a year later, in 1977, with the mandate to advance policies and actions that prevent war and armed violence and build sustainable peace.
As a peace research institute of The Canadian Council of Churches, Project Ploughshares provides expertise and analysis to the Council and its members on peace and security issues and assists in shaping an ecumenical response to those issues.
God shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more.
Strategic Goals (2021-24)
Our Objectives
- Encourage vocal and active Canadian support for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
- Contribute, through work with likeminded organizations, in Canada and abroad, to international policies that support a more efficient and effective nuclear non-proliferation regime.
More information about our work in this area is available on the Project Ploughshares website.
Executive Director Cesar Jaramillo and Senior Advisor Ken Epps at press conference on Canada’s accession to the Arms Trade Treaty, with colleagues from Amnesty International, Oxfam, and The Rideau Institute (Ottawa, September 2019).
Our Objectives
- Engage with other civil society organizations to encourage the Canadian government to support policies that prevent the weaponization of space.
- Raise awareness of the challenges facing outer space security.
More information about our work in this area is available on the Project Ploughshares website.
Emerging military and security technologies are bringing forth new challenges.
Advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics continue to push the boundaries of autonomy. Practically, this means that the extent of human-decision making and control of weapons systems is being brought into question. Lethal autonomous weapons systems, in particular, have been identified as deeply problematic from a moral, ethical and legal perspective. Autonomous weapons are weapons systems that can select and engage targets with little human intervention. Autonomous weapons systems have been called the “third revolution in warfare after gunpowder and nuclear arms” by leading scientists and tech developers. Without regulation, the risks posed by these weapons will only increase.
Project Ploughshares has joined the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a growing coalition of 142 organizations in 62 countries working to pre-emptively ban weapons systems that, once activated, would select and attack targets without human intervention.
While countries have been discussing this issue since 2014 at the United Nations, the process has been slow and technological advancements are outpacing regulation. This points to the clear need for greater dialogue nationally and internationally.
More information about our work in this area is available on the Project Ploughshares website.
Senior Researcher Branka Marijan, Executive Director Cesar Jaramillo, and colleagues from Mines Action Canada and the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots at event on efforts to prevent fully autonomous weapons systems (United Nations, New York. October 2019)
To achieve a core purpose of “reducing human suffering,” the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) sets common global standards for the national control of shipments of conventional weapons across international borders.
On September 17, 2019, Canada became the 105th state party to the global ATT. Project Ploughshares was part of the civil-society push to create this treaty, and has promoted it since.
Project Ploughshares, in partnership with other NGOs, has actively promoted an Arms Trade Treaty since the mid-1990s.
Ploughshares is a member of the Steering Board of the Control Arms Coalition, a group of NGOs promoting the ATT.
More information about our work in this area is available on the Project Ploughshares website.
Members of the Project Ploughshares Management Committee (2021-24)
Bruce Adema (Chair), Member-at-large
Bob Clarke (Vice Chair), Member-at-large
Colin Read, Canadian Unitarian Council
Dale Dewar, Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Duncan Etches, The United Church of Canada
John Nichols, Community of Christ
Luke Stocking, Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace
Mark Vander Vennen, Christian Reformed Church in North America
Matthew Lingard, The Presbyterian Church in Canada
Rebekah Sears, Peace & Justice Office of Mennonite Central Committee Canada
Simon Guthrie, The Anglican Church of Canada
Last updated July 2023
Connect with Project Ploughshares
PROJECT PLOUGHSHARES
140 WESTMOUNT ROAD NORTH
WATERLOO, ONTARIO N2L 3G6 CANADA
PHONE: 519-888-6541 • FAX: 519-888-0018
TOLL FREE NUMBER: 1-888-907-3223
EMAIL: PLOUGH@PLOUGHSHARES.CA
Project Ploughshares is an operating division of
