To provide the best possible service to our members, their families and to members of the Canadian Forces, we participate as full members of the:

• Veterans Affairs Canada Advisory Committee on the New Veterans Charter;
• Veterans Affairs Canada Veterans Week Advisory Committee;
• Veterans Affairs Canada Pacific Region Advisory Council and
• The Joint Veterans Affairs and National Defence Centre for the Care of Injured and Retired Members of the Canadian Forces.

          CAVUNP was a driving force for this award, linking with other veterans organizations to keep the initiative alive through five years and five Private Member’s Bills in the House of Commons. The Order in Council was signed 27 September 1999 which approved the award of the Medal to each member of the Canadian Forces upon completion of their first peacekeeping mission.

          The national monument of Canada to peacekeeping is in Ottawa. Named “Reconciliation”, the monument was the logical follow-on in Canada to the award in 1988 of the Nobel Peace Prize to United Nations Peacekeeping. The monument was unveiled October 8, 1992. The DND project officer was John Gardam OMM, MSM, a past president and past chairman of the board of directors of CAVUNP.

          CAVUNP has been in the forefront of the creation of monuments to Peacekeeping and Peacekeepers across the country.

          In Toronto, with 100 city cenotaphs, a plaque will be fixed on each of them commemorating Peacekeeping.

          In Calgary, our Chapter was instrumental in the creation a very large commemorative park on the grounds of the former Canadian Forces Base Calgary.

          In Winnipeg, our Chapter has created an outstanding monument on the main route to the Provincial legislature buildings.

          Chapters across Canada are working with local agencies to add commemoration to peacekeeping on cenotaphs.

          In Cyprus, a member of CAVUNP visiting the cemetery where fallen Canadian peacekeepers are buried, discovered that the cemetery was in complete disarray. Through combined efforts, we convinced the federal government to allot funds for the upkeep of the site.

          CAVUNP has obtained, from all but one province and from many cities and towns, approval in perpetuity of the annual Peacekeepers Day on 9 August when we remember the fallen, give thanks to our families and friends who have supported peacekeepers during missions in far-away lands and, honour those peacekeepers who have received awards for bravery during a mission.

          We maintain a record of each fallen Peacekeeper. Our national website includes a Roll of Honour which lists in chronological order the date on which each Peacekeeper died in the service of peace.

          We maintain a record of the awards for bravery received by peacekeepers. Each record includes the citation for the award. This will be included in our national website.

          In the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa are displayed the Books of Remembrance which record the names of Canadians who died in all the major conflicts since the Boer War in South Africa in the 1890s.

          The 7th Book commemorates all Canadians who have died since WW II including peacekeepers and can be viewed in the Veterans Affairs Canada website.

          Our newsletter, “The Thin Blue Line” is published quarterly and mailed to all members. We also post it on our website. It is well-received by our members and also by various government departments and other peacekeeping associations with whom we have links.

          This site publishes a variety of information and has been the source of assistance about peacekeeping to many students around the world.

          Through a variety of means, we endeavour to inform the public about the role of peacekeeping, the experiences of peacekeepers, the extension of Canadian values to people in whose country we are serving so they may learn about Canadian society.

          One of our members, John Gardam, OMM, MSM, has published three very informative books on peacekeeping and peacekeepers’ experiences. Our chapters have donated these books to schools and public libraries across the country.

          Our members are invited regularly by a vast number of organizations (schools, service clubs, etc.) to speak on the meaning and values of peacekeeping.

          Our chapters are encouraged to take on special projects in the community to aid veterans and others.

          CAVUNP has been invited many times to speak on behalf of veterans issues to Parliamentary committees which we have accepted.

          In the parade of veterans at the National War Monument on 11 November, our peacekeeping veterans contingent always receives a tremendous ovation from the people along the march route. So too do chapters across the country.

          CAVUNP has forged links with various veterans organizations in Canada and abroad which have objectives and views common to ours. In this way, we lend our weight to issues of importance and serve the communities in the best way.

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