Historians, veterans, museums, and public education campaigns have all documented and commemorated the experience of Canadians in times of war. But Canada also has a long, rich, and important historical tradition of resistance to both war and militarization. This collection brings together the work of sixteen scholars on the history of war resistance. Together they explore resistance to specific wars (including the South African War, the First and Second World Wars, and Vietnam), the ideology and nature of resistance (national, ethical, political, spiritual), and organized activism against militarization (such as cadet training, the Cold War, and nuclear arms).

Introduction: War resistance in Canadian history / Lara Campbell, Michael Dawson, and Catherine Gidney -- "Scruples of conscience" and the historic peace churches in the War of 1812 / Jonathan Seiling -- A mixed blessing: The pacifist sects of Upper Canada and exemption from militia duty, 1793-1867 / Ross Fair -- Dissent in Canada against the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902 / Amy Shaw -- With thought and faith: Henri Bourassa and the First World War / Geoff Keelan -- A better truth: The democratic legacy of resistance to conscription, 1917-1921 / David Tough -- Challenging Strathcona: The cadet training controversy in English Canada, 1920-1950 / Cynthia Comacchio -- "This thing is in our blood for 400 years": Conscientious objection in the Canadian historic peace churches during the Second World War / Conrad Stoesz -- Principal Purdie objects: Canadian Pentecostal students and conscription during the Second World War / Linda M. Ambrose -- Margaret Ells Russell, Women Strike for Peace, and the global politics of "intelligent compassion," 1961-1965 / Ian McKay -- Bridging and breaching Cold War divides: Transnational peace building, state surveillance, and the voice of women / Marie Hammond-Callaghan -- Fighting the war at home: Voice of women and war toy activism in postwar Canada / Braden Hutchinson -- Project La Macaza: A study of two Canadian peace protests in the 1960s / Bruce Douville -- "A very major wheel that helped grind the war down": The Canadian anti-draft movement, 1966-1973 / Jessica Squires -- The fasting granny vs. the Trudeau government: Demanding an end to the Canadian presence in Vietnam / Tarah Brookfield -- "A good teacher is a revolutionary": Alternative war perspectives in Toronto classrooms from the 1960s to the 1990s / Rose Fine-Meyer -- Rewriting history: Iraq war resisters' struggle for asylum in Canada and the mythology of Vietnam / Luke Stewart -- "There is nothing more inclusive than O Canada": New Brunswick's elementary school anthem debate and the shadow of Afghanistan / Michael Dawson and Catherine Gidney.