The CBC reports that, “Muriel Duckworth, a Nova Scotian peace activist best known as one of the founding members of the national peace group Voice of Women, died early Saturday at the age of 100. Duckworth fell and broke her hip while at her Quebec cottage. She passed away at a hospital in Magog, Que.”
Left to right: Maude Barlow, Ben Swankey (recipient of the Ken Wardroper Founder’s Award), Murray Dobbin, Muriel Duckworth (recipient of the Distinguished Canadian Award), and Marjorie Nichol.
“Duckworth co-founded a variety of social action groups and played crucial roles in several humanitarian organizations, including Oxfam Canada, where she served on the board of directors in the 1970s.”
In 1998, the Council of Canadians presented Muriel Duckworth with our Distinguished Canadian Award at our annual general meeting in St. John’s, Newfoundland. An article and photo can be found in this 1999 issue of Canadian Perspectives, http://canadians.org/publications/CP/1999/pub-cp-winter1999.pdf.
The CBC report notes that, “During the Vietnam War, Muriel and other Voice of Women members were instrumental in arranging a tour to Canada for Vietnamese women directly affected by the war.”
Muriel and Voice of Women were also involved in Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow’s participation in an international women’s peace mission to Iraq in January 1991 on the eve of the first Gulf War.
The Council of Canadians extends our condolences to Muriel’s family, friends and wider community.
The CBC article is at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2009/08/22/muriel-duckworth-obit-pacifist.html.
Our Atlantic organizer Angela Giles also provides these web-links: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9012944.html and http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/muriel-duckworth-100/article1261352/A.
