When the prophet Isaiah imagined a world in which people would “learn war no more,” I’m sure he never suspected that thousands of years later, humans would still not have figured out how to live in peace.

We haven’t, so thank goodness for people like Paula Kirman, 2012 recipient of the Salvos Prelorentzos Peace Award presented on November 6. The award is presented annually to an often-unsung hero who is making a significant contribution to peace and justice in Edmonton. The award is named for Salvos Prelorentzos who experienced the horrors of war and became a lifetime pacifist.

Paula joined sixteen past recipients of the award, many of them known to the people of Boyle Street and McCauley including Sr. Marion Garneau, Michael Phair, Jim Gurnett, Mike Tulley, Michael Kalmanovitch, Toh Swee Hin, and Change for Children. In accepting the award, Paula said that as a young child she pleaded with her parents for a camera and a guitar. Little did they know that Paula would combine these with social media to connect groups and individuals “committed to bringing about a world of peace and justice.” She added video production and songwriting to keep the peace community connected. She believes it is her personal responsibility to choose between peace and war and show peace in her daily living.

The evening began with Prem Kalia receiving the Polovnikoff-Mokry Lifetime Service Award. Kalia didn’t speak about his lifetime of peace work as a classroom teacher, activist, and the person behind many peace initiatives in Edmonton. In his unassuming way, he was too busy congratulating others for their work.

Keynote speaker David Climenhaga (albertadiary.ca) spoke of the need for a media not dominated by “the bullies in the town square,” the name he has given to the right-wing conglomerate that controls most media in Canada. He even had a name for this proposed “paper:” The Chinook, to bring a breath of fresh air and “give headaches to the ‘right’ people.” He described how the Internet has laid waste to the old business model of media and opened the doors for a progressive voice to be added to the public square. What is needed is money, persistence while a readership is built, and courage to hire good journalists to provide news instead of commentary.

Singer Terry Morrison, a well-known voice from the inner city, shared three songs in her low melodious voice, closing with a song about how words can “wing their way to freedom in a song.”

I saw the glow of smart phones as people checked discreetly for updates on the election taking place that evening, no doubt hoping that the winner and leader of our powerful neighbour to the south would join the “peace plot” the world needs and Paula exemplifies.

The event was organized by Project Ploughshares. For more information, visit www.ploughsharesedmonton.org.