Toronto ON – The Toronto Hiroshima Day Coalition is organizing the 66th commemoration of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th, 2011 at 6:30 pm at the Church of the Holy Trinity (10 Trinity Square, behind the Toronto Eaton Centre). With the theme, “Faith and Abolition: No Nuclear Weapons, No Nuclear Power,” this year’s interfaith commemoration will also address the nuclear disaster continuing to unfold in Fukushima, Japan, connecting our growing concern about nuclear power and its relationship to nuclear weapons proliferation.
Speakers include Metta Spencer (editor, Peace Magazine), Archbishop Michael Peers (Anglican Church), Rev. Dr. Seiichi Ariga (United Church), Zul Kassamali (Chair, Toronto Area Interfaith Council), and Angela Bischoff from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance.
Mayor Rob Ford’s City of Toronto Hiroshima Day Proclamation and the City of Hiroshima Mayor’s Proclamation will be read. There will also be performances by the Common Thread Choir, the Raging Grannies, the Yakudo Drummers and flautist Ron Korb. The commemoration will conclude with a lantern ceremony at 8:45 pm at the reflecting pool at Nathan Phillips Square.
Hiroshima, Nagasaki Photo & Survivors’ Artwork Exhibit, August 2-5, 2011:
An exhibition of photographs and paintings by Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bomb survivors will have an official opening at the North York Civic Centre, 5100 Yonge Street, on August 2 at 5:30 hosted by Toronto City Councillor John Filion. Ontario MPP David Zimmer, Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow, and Allan Hux from the Toronto District School Board will also speak. The exhibition is free of charge and runs until August 5.
The Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow is one of the organizers of both events and is also an active advocate of nuclear weapons abolition on the international scene. She has just been asked by the Japanese government to consult with the Japanese Prime Minister on the nuclear weapons abolition movement and will receive a Commendation from the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs from the Consul General in Toronto this August.
For further information, please consult http://www.myspace.com/
And in Ottawa:
Japanese Ambassador Karoru Ishikawa will be the keynote speaker this year in Ottawa at our annual commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki. Speeches to commence at 7:30 PM, 91A Fourth Ave, Ottawa. This event is hosted by Physicians for Global Survival, Project Ploughshares and the Quakers.
Prior to the speeches, people are welcome to come and make paper lanterns at 6:30 which we will float on Brown’s inlet at dusk.
For those interested we will be showing the documentary STRANGEST DREAM at 4 PM. The story of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Joseph Rotblat, the only scientist to walk away from the Manhattan Project. This will be followed by a light pot luck supper.
