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TORONTO GRASSROOTS ENDORSE “THE TREATY” OVER “THE BOMB”

“RISE UP! TREATIES, NOT BOMBS!” brings together Toronto to address the growing dangers of nuclear war. The formal ceremony will begin at 6:30 PM at the Peace Garden on Nathan Phillips Square on the 74th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki.

The international fallout of Trump’s withdrawal from the INF Treaty includes threats of a renewed nuclear arms race. With approximately 13,890 nuclear weapons, 9 nuclear weapons states and a growing global climate crisis- the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists have positioned the Doomsday Clock at 2 minutes to midnight.

Today, international peace activist Ray Acheson, Director of Reaching Critical Will, returns to her Toronto roots to speak on the most urgent issue facing our planet and the pressing need to ratify the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or “the Treaty”.

Ms. Acheson will be supported by Torontonian Setsuko Thurlow, the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate for International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. As an international nuclear disarmament advocate she pleaded with states assembled at the United Nations, “To the leaders of countries across the world, I beseech you: if you love this planet, you will sign this treaty.”

Schedule:

• 10 AM – 5 PM Survivor Artwork & Poster Display (continues to August 8, 2019), Toronto City Hall’s Rotunda, 100 Queen Street West
• 4:30 - 6:30 PM Community Tables & Crafts on City Hall’s Nathan Phillips Square (NPS)
• 6:30 – 8:40 PM Commemoration Ceremony at the Peace Garden on NPS
• 8:40 – 9:00 PM Lantern Ceremony accompanied by flautist Ron Korb
• Performances by Toronto Council Fire’s All Nations Juniors Drum Group, Pax Christi Chorale, Grammy-nominated flautist Ron Korb and Toronto’s Raging Grannies.

Free, open to the public, family friendly with crafts including origami and lantern-making.