Dimitri Lascaris will embark upon a Canada-wide speaking tour next week to report back to Canadians about his recent mission of peace to Russia. The title of the tour is “Making Peace With Russia, One Handshake At A Time.”
In April 2023, Dimitri Lascaris, Canadian lawyer, journalist and now citizen-diplomat, embarked on a self-financed trip to Russia where he lectured to students, presented at a think tank, gave interviews, met officials and peace activists, appeared on Russian media, wrote articles and tweeted daily about what he saw and heard.
The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network (CWPJN) is sponsoring the pan-Canadian tour. It hopes that Dimitri’s tour will move the needle on Canadian public opinion in support of a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine and thus accelerate an end to the conflict. For the CWPJN position on the war in Ukraine, please see: https://peaceandjusticenetwork.ca/stop-the-war-feb-2023/
For his part, Dimitri agreed to embark on this Canada-wide speaking tour because of the extraordinary danger created by the war in Ukraine. As he explained:
“NATO is effectively at war with Russia. They possess enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world many times over. Meanwhile, the climate crisis is spinning out of control. Not only is the war itself a major source of emissions, but this conflict is an insurmountable obstacle to the international cooperation needed to manage the climate crisis responsibly. Never before was the cause of peace more important than it is today.”
Dimitri’s tour begins on June 19th in his hometown of London, ON. The tour schedule is as follows:
June 19th – London
June 20th – Hamilton ( Mohawk College, Fennell Campus, Room F118. 7pm)
June 21st – Toronto ( 31 Wellesley Street East. 7pm) (cancelled)
June 22nd – Winnipeg (Filipino Seniors Group of Winnipeg Cultural Education Centre. 49 Euclid Avenue (at Sutherland Avenue). 7:30 pm)
June 23 – Regina (4:30. Location TBA)
June 26 – Vancouver (for more information and to attend please email [email protected])
June 27th – Victoria (dimitri-lascaris-making-peace.eventbrite.ca)
June 29th – Montreal (tourneecanadiennepourlapaix.eventbrite.com)
June 30th – Halifax (www.eventbrite.com/0/making-peace-with-russia-one-handshake-at-a-time-tickets-655104584447?aff=oddtdtcreator)
July 2nd – Fredericton (TBA)
July 3rd – Ottawa (TBA)
July 4th – free Canada-wide webinar from Kingston, ON (8pm Free Webinar Canada-Wide – https://tinyurl.com/dimitri-lascaris)
Tickets will be sold at some venues while voluntary donations will be solicited at others. Dimitri has generously waived any speaking fees so that any funds raised will go to rental and staging costs. The tour will conclude with a free Canada-wide webinar broadcast from Kingston, Ontario, on Tuesday, July 4th at 8 pm ET: https://tinyurl.com/Dimitri-Kingston
For the most up-to-date info on the tour, people can go to the CWPJN website at
https://peaceandjusticenetwork.ca/handshake/ or check out the poster above.
The tour is endorsed by Just Peace Advocates and the International Manifesto Group.
By Ken Stone,
Treasurer, Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War
Member, Steering Committee, CWPJN
[email protected] or 905-383-7693
