Roche, Douglas, 1929- : The Hon. Douglas Roche, O.C., is an author, parliamentarian and diplomat, who has specialized throughout his 35-year public career in peace and human security issues.
Roche was born on June 14, 1929, in Montreal, Québec. At the age of 6 months, he was brought to Ottawa to be raised by his aunt, Marion Daley. In high school he developed an interest in writing and journalism when writing for the school paper, and pursued this interest while attending St. Patrick's College in Ottawa, where he worked as a reporter for the Ottawa Journal from 1949 to 1950. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, he accepted a job as news editor for the Catholic newspaper, the Ensign, in Montreal. From 1953 to 1955, Roche began work as a political correspondent for the Toronto Telegram, and left Toronto in 1956 to work as a feature writer and columnist for the Catholic Universe Bulletin in Cleveland, Ohio. He stayed there for a year and then moved to the position of associate editor of The Sign Magazine in Union City, New Jersey, where he stayed until 1965. His last journalism post was as founding editor of the Western Catholic Reporter, in Edmonton, Alberta, which won eleven national awards from the Catholic Press Association and the Associated Church Press.
In 1971 Roche joined the Progressive Conservative party and began to make preparations to run for election as Member of Parliament for Edmonton Strathcona. A seat in Parliament would give him a broader stage for his ideas about social justice and nuclear disarmament that had developed during his journalism career. Roche won the election on October 30, 1972, and held this seat until 1979. From 1979 to 1984 he held the seat as MP for Edmonton South.
In 1984, Roche was appointed Canada's Ambassador for Disarmament, a position that required him to represent Canada at international meetings on disarmament and arms control, function as a special advisor to the Canadian government on related matters, and be the point of contact between government and non-governmental organizations in Canada who were interested in these issues. In 1985, he was elected Honorary President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations. In 1988, at the 43rd General Assembly of the United Nations, he was elected Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee, the main United Nations body dealing with political and security issues. In 1989, Roche's term as Ambassador ended, and he left the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Over the next few years, Roche returned to his journalism roots, and from 1989 to 1993 wrote a weekly column on peace for the Toronto Star. He was appointed a Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta from 1989 to 2001. Also in 1989, the Holy See Mission at the United Nations appointed him a special advisor on disarmament. In recognition of his services in this role, Pope John Paul II presented him with the Papal Medal in 1995, and in 1998 the Holy See named him a Knight Commander of the Order of St.Gregory the Great. In recogition of work as an active proponent for peace and human rights, Roche received the award of Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992.
In 1998, Roche helped found, and was named Chairman of, the Middle Powers Initiative, an international coalition of eight non-governmental groups working with middle power governments to encourage nuclear power states to recognize nuclear dangers and engage in negotiations to eventually eliminate nuclear weapons altogether. Amongst these non-governmental groups are two Nobel Peace Prize winners, the International Peace Bureau, and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Roche continues to occupy the position as Chairman.
Since 1968, Douglas Roche has written 19 books, the most recent being his autobiography, Creative Dissent: a Politician's Struggle for Peace.
Douglas Roche lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
