The Hon. Douglas Roche, O.C., is an author, parliamentarian and diplomat, who has specialized throughout his 50-year public career in peace and human security issues. He lectures widely on peace and nuclear disarmament themes.
Mr. Roche was a Senator, Member of Parliament, Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament, and Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta. He was elected Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee at the 43rd General Assembly in 1988.
The author of 25 books. His latest is Keep Hope Alive: Essays for a War-Free World (2023). His memoirs, Creative Dissent: A Politician's Struggle for Peace was published by Novalis in 2008. A previous book, The Human Right to Peace (Novalis, 2003), was the Canadian Book Review Annual Editor's Choice scholarly selection for July-August 2005. He has contributed chapters to 20 additional books.
Mr. Roche holds nine honourary doctorates from Canadian and American universities and has received numerous awards for his work for peace and non-violence, including the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation for World Peace Award (Canada) and the United Nations Association's Medal of Honour. In 1995, Pope John Paul II presented him with the Papal Medal for his service as Special Adviser on disarmament and security matters, and in 1998 the Holy See named him a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. He received the 2003 Peace Award of the Canadian Islamic Congress and the 2005 Luminosa Award for Unity from the Focolare Movement, North America. In 2005, he was given Lifetime Achievement awards from both the Canadian Pugwash Group and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. In 2009, he received the Distinguished Service Award of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians for his "promotion of human welfare, human rights and parliamentary democracy in Canada and abroad."
In 2018, he was recognized by the International Peace Bureau as one of three recipients of the Seán MacBride Peace Prize. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
