Toronto, Ontario Abolish Nuclear Weapons Day

Type: Resolution

Status: Declared on 3/17/07

Source File: http://www.toronto.ca/proclamations/2007/pdf/proclamation_abolishnuclear2007.pdf

Text:

WHEREAS the number of nations possessing or developing nuclear weapons continues to increase, thereby increasing the proliferation of dangerous nuclear weapons.

On May 7, 1982, Toronto City Council voted to hold a referendum on worldwide nuclear disarmament in the November 8, 1982 municipal election and, seventy-eight percent of Torontonians who cast ballots voted “yes” to disarmament by all nations with the ultimate goal of a world free from nuclear weapons.

The results of the 1982 municipal referendum were forwarded by Toronto City Council to the Federal Government, calling on it to urge the United Nations to conduct a global referendum on nuclear disarmament.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Mayors for Peace, an Inter-City Solidarity Program proposed by the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and adopted by Toronto City Council.

On January 24, 1983 Toronto City Council designated Toronto a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.

NOW THEREFORE, I, Mayor David Miller, on behalf of Toronto City Council, do hereby proclaim March 17, 2007 as “Abolish Nuclear Weapons Day” to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Toronto as a nuclear weapons free zone and a city of peace.