Douglas Roche

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Douglas James Roche, OC, KCSG (born June 14, 1929) is a former Canadian politician, He served as Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Edmonton—Strathcona from 1972 to 1984. In 1984, he was appointed Canada's Ambassador for Disarmament, a position he held until 1989. He was appointed to the Senate of Canada on September 17, 1998, where he served until June 13, 2004. Currently he resides in Edmonton, Alberta.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, he has long been concerned with the issue of nuclear disarmament. He was elected Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee, the main United Nations body dealing with political and security issues, at the 43rd General Assembly in 1988. He is also the author of eighteen books, and has contributed chapters to thirteen more. His latest is Beyond Hiroshima (Novalis, 2005). From 1989 to 2001, he was appointed Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta, where he taught "War or Peace in the 21st Century?" In 1997, he was chosen by the Students' Union to receive a SALUTE Award for "outstanding contributions to students."

He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and Chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative, a network of eight international non-governmental organizations specializing in nuclear disarmament. In 1995, Pope John Paul II presented him with the Papal Medal for his service as Special Adviser on disarmament and security matters. In 1998, the Holy See named him a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.

Roche has served as President of the United Nations Association in Canada and was elected in 1985 as Honorary President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations. He was the founding President of Parliamentarians for Global Action, an international network of 1,300 parliamentarians in 99 countries, and wrote The Case for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly in 2002[1]. He was also founding editor of the Western Catholic Reporter (1965-72); and International Chairman (1990-96) of Global Education Associates.