OTTAWA - The United Nations Association in Canada is pleased to name
Alex Morrison, of Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia, as the 23rd recipient
of the Pearson Peace Medal. The Medal will be presented by Her Excellency
the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada,
in her capacity as Honourary Patron of UNA-Canada at a special ceremony
at Rideau Hall on Thursday, January 30, 2003.
"Alex Morrison dedicated his career to upholding the vision of peacekeeping
established by Lester B Pearson," says Steve Mason, Executive Director
of UNA-Canada. Mr. Morrison served in the Canadian military for over
thirty years, commanding troops in national and international assignments
and serving in a United Nations peacekeeping force headquarters. He
ended his formal military service as Minister-Counsellor of the Canadian
Mission to the United Nations, in which capacity he successfully upheld
and protected Canada's international role as a peacekeeper. Subsequently,
Mr. Morrison served as the Executive Director and then the President
of the Canadian Institute for Strategic Studies.
Mr. Morrison was the founder and first President of the Lester B. Pearson
Canadian International Peacekeeping Training Centre, known as the Pearson
Peacekeeping Centre. Throughout the seven years of his term as President,
Mr. Morrison established the Centre as one of the finest in the world.
In his vision for a "new peacekeeping partnership," Alex Morrison recognized
the vital role that non-military agencies have to play in peace operations.
He was instrumental in imbuing this notion into the core of the Centre's
teachings.
UNA-Canada awards the Pearson Peace Medal annually to a Canadian who
has personally contributed, through his or her working life and voluntary
commitments, to those humanitarian causes to which Lester B. Pearson
devoted his distinguished career. The Medal was first awarded in 1979
to Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger. Recent recipients include Ursula Franklin
(2001), Flora Macdonald (1999), Pat Roy Mooney (1998) Hanna Newcombe
(1997) and Gerry Barr (1996). A jury of eminent Canadians selects the
recipient of the Medal.
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Date and Time
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Thursday, 30 January, 2003
(journalists, photographers and camera crews are asked to arrive
no later than 3:30 p.m.)
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Location
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Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive (media representatives should enter
through the Princess Anne entrance)
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For further information, contact:
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Joan Broughton
Public Information Officer
Tel: (613) 232-5751, ext. 230
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Lucie Brosseau
Rideau Hall Press Office
Tel: (613) 998-0287 E-mail: info@unac.org
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