September 9, 2024
Ernie Regehr, who has devoted a lifetime of work to the nuclear disarmament movement in Canada, will receive the Canadians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention (CNWC) 2024 Distinguished Achievement Award.
CNWC is a civil society initiative sponsored by the Canadian Pugwash Group and endorsed by more than 1,000 recipients of the Order of Canada, who have called for Canada to work for comprehensive negotiations for the elimination of nuclear weapons. “We are proud to give this year’s Award to Ernie Regehr for his expert leadership for half a century to rid the world of nuclear weapons,” said Alex Neve O.C., CNWC Chairperson.
Regehr was the founding Executive Director of Project Ploughshares in 1976. In that post, he led a civil society movement in 1999 successfully urging the Government of Canada to use its influence to have NATO review its nuclear weapons policies. He later partnered with Dr. Jennifer Allen Simons, president of The Simons Foundation Canada, on Arctic security and Canadian defence policy issues.
His book, Disarming Conflict: Why Peace Cannot Be Won on the Battlefield, published in 2015, is an authentic study shattering the illusion that war is necessary for peace. His citation as an Officer of the Order of Canada stated: “He is one of Canada’s most prominent and respected voices on international disarmament and peace.” Additionally, he has been awarded the University of Waterloo’s 50th Anniversary Alumni Award (2007), the Arthur Kroeger College Award for Ethics in Public Affairs (2011), and the Pearson Peace Medal (2011).
Throughout his career, Regehr has modelled for his colleagues in the peace movement the importance of a respectful, open approach among themselves and in their relations with parliamentarians and officials.
The Award will be presented Oct. 24, 2024 at Regehr’s lecture, “The Arctic and the East-West Nuclear Confrontation,” sponsored by CNWC and the Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS) at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Social Sciences Building, 120 University Private, Ottawa. The public lecture, beginning at 4 pm, will be followed by a reception.
Previous recipients of the CNWC Achievement Award are:
2011 Murray Thomson
2012 Bev Tollefson Delong
2013 Fergus Watt
2014 Adele Buckley
2015 Paul Dewar
2016 Peggy Mason
2017 Metta Spencer
2018 Debbie Grisdale
2019 Dr. Mary-Wynne Ashford and Dr. Jonathan Down
2021 Dr. Jennifer Allen Simons
2022 Paul Meyer
2023 Tariq Rauf
Contact: Elaine Hynes
CNWC Secretariat
cnwc@pugwashgroup.ca