News release details

Remembrance Day programs for kids and adults; free admission for veterans

Visitors to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) have only two more weeks to see Peace – The Exhibition, on display in the Museum's Level 6 "Expressions" gallery.

Developed by the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, this travelling exhibition explores the ways Canadians have defined, made and kept peace at home and around the world (see backgrounder below). It was the first travelling exhibition at the newly opened CMHR. It closes on November 23 in preparation for a new exhibition opening in December.

Peace is examined on three levels: how we negotiate to obtain and protect it; how we organize and demonstrate to demand it; and, sometimes, how we fight to achieve it – meaningful food for thought on Remembrance Day next week.

The Museum will be open from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. on November 11, and will provide complimentary admission to all veterans. The Israel Asper Tower of Hope will glow poppy red from dusk on November 10 until noon on November 11.

Special programming for children and adults is included with the price of admission on Remembrance Day. As part of XOXO: An Exhibit About Love and Forgiveness in the Level 1 Gallery, children will be invited to write letters to veterans from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. to honour their courage, service and sacrifice. They can express their feelings though words or pictures and the Museum will deliver the letters to a local veteran's organization (if families wish).

In the evening, a Museum Talk in the Stuart Clark Garden of Contemplation features a presentation by CMHR staff member Matthew McRae about the struggle of Indigenous veterans for recognition. Many First Nations, Métis and Inuit people served Canada during the First World War, the Second World War and the Korean War. However, once the wars ended, these veterans often felt abandoned by their country. The talk takes place in English at 7 p.m. and in French at 8 p.m.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration and future of human rights. It is the first national museum in Canada to be built outside the National Capital Region. Using multimedia technology and other innovative approaches, the Museum will create inspiring encounters with human rights appropriate for all ages, in a visitor experience unlike any other.

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Backgrounder

Peace – The Exhibition, a travelling exhibition developed by the Canadian War Museum (curated by Dr. Amber Lloydlangston) vividly illustrates the diversity of Canadians' choices and actions for peace, and how these actions have helped shape Canada's history.

It is organized under three themes, each represented by historical episodes:

Negotiate

This section explores the key role played by Canada's Lester B. Pearson in resolving the 1956 Suez Crisis through negotiation and

the establishment of the first United Nations Emergency Force, which included Canadian peacekeepers. Visitors will also learn about the heated national debate over Canada's response to the Suez Crisis.

Organize

Canadians reacted to the global challenge of living with nuclear weapons in very different ways. In this section, visitors examine these reactions through stories about key nuclear events such as disarmament protests, the "Diefenbunker", and the testing of American cruise missiles in Canada.

Intervene

This section documents Canada's intervention in Afghanistan, including its combat role, work to promote development and rebuild state structures and the role of individuals and non‐governmental organizations to help the Afghan people.

Personal stories: Visitors to the exhibit will encounter many stories of individuals, families and groups associated with the three episodes above, including anti‐nuclear activist Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing who later moved to Canada and was eventually awarded the Order of Canada for her work against nuclear weapons; General E.L.M. Burns, a Canadian who was the first commander of the first UN Peacekeeping force; and "Skateistan", an international charitable organization with Canadian support and participation that uses skateboarding to connect with and educate Afghan youth, especially marginalized street kids.

The Expressions gallery is generously supported by the Richardson Foundation and the Richardson family.