Students and MPs greet the March on Canada's Parliament Hill

Accompanied by Canadian members of the international organization, World Without Wars, Pierre Hennico (Belgium), Emilia Giorgetti (Italy), and Miguel Angel Fernandez (Spain) were joined on the Hill by a great throng of cheering students from the Draveurs School Board and the Collège Bourget, as well as by representatives of World Without Wars-Canada, VANA (Veterans Against Nuclear Arms) and Project Plougshares. Together they formed a Peace Sign on the lawn in front of the Parliament.

Members of Parliament from different political parties also came out to show their support and join in the activities: Joyce Murray and Albina Guarnier, Liberals; Meili Faille and Richard Nadeau, Bloc Quebecois; and Olivia Chow, NDP.

During the rally, students of the Draveurs school board presented the MPs with the Nobel Peace Laureates' “Charter for a World without Violence”, endorsed by over 200 students, as well as with certificates testifying to the number of kilometres they had walked in support of the World March. Collège Bourget students presented “Footsteps to Peace” to the MP for their riding, Meili Faille.

Within the House of Commons later that day, Mrs. Faille presented to Parliament the Charter and the World March, and asked all members to endorse its message of a world without wars, nuclear weapons, or violence. She finished by saying she was honoured to have received the World Marchers on the Hill.

Following the Parliamentary session, the Marchers, along with Anne Farrell, the francophone coordinator of the World March in Canada, met with Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe. In that meeting, Duceppe presented them with certificates recognizing their contribution to the World March for Peace and Nonviolence and their commitment to the Charter for a World Without Violence.