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CANADIAN PEACE ALLIANCE URGES MARTIN TO KEEP CANADA
OUT OF U.S. MISSILE
DEFENSE
"Time for Canada to stop being a willing henchman to a rogue
superpower."January
8, 2003 (Toronto) - The Canadian Peace Alliance, the
largest umbrella organization of peace groups in Canada, today urged
Paul
Martin to keep Canada out of U.S. Missile Defense, amid reports that Ottawa
and Washington plan formal negotiations
on Canada's involvement.
Prime Minister Martin will meet with President Bush for the first time at
the Summit of
the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, on January 12-13th.
Canada's involvement in Missile Defense is expected to be on the
table at
that meeting.
The Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA) called on Martin to refuse to sign on to
Missile Defense
at that meeting, citing numerous problems with the project.
According to the CPA, Missile Defense will:
Put weapons
in space. Missile Defense will base weapons in space, including
space-based radar and space-based lasers.
Spark new
arms races, including nuclear proliferation. Missile Defense
responds to the danger of weapons by making more weapons.
This will incite
other countries to build up their arsenals and spark new conventional and
nuclear arms races.
Divert
resources away from human security and toward military industry. The
total cost of Missile Defense is estimated to be
between $800 billion and
$1.2 trillion.
"Contrary to its name, Missile Defense is not defensive at all - it is an
offensive
system designed to enable the kind of aggressive military action
we witnessed in Iraq," said Dave McKee, CPA Co-Chair.
"Canada should refuse
to support this dangerous and costly scheme."
"The only reason the United States wants Canada
to sign on is to provide a
political fig leaf to cover a hostile and offensive development," said
Judith Berlyn, CPA
Co-Chair. "It's time Canada stopped being a willing
henchman to a rogue superpower."
The CPA urged Martin to work
for disarmament through international
cooperation, and to invest in human security.
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For more information:
Christy
Ferguson or Sid Lacombe
Canadian Peace Alliance / L'Alliance canadienne pour la paix
427 rue Bloor St W / ouest
Toronto,
ON M5S 1X7
416-588-5555
cpa@web.ca
www.acp-cpa.ca
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Letter on Missile Defence:
The date.
The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, PC, MP
Prime Minister
of Canada
House of
Commons
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6
Fax: (613)
941-6900 or (613) 957-5571; pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Prime
Minister Chrétien,
I/We object or [the name of your group] objects to the US Missile Defense (MD) program
and am/are/is
disturbed that the Government of Canada has not yet spoken out clearly and unequivocally against it.
I am /We are
convinced that:
- MD is a step towards the basing of weapons in space (plans for which can be found on the US Space Command web site:
http://www.gsinstitute.org/resources/extras/vision_2020.pdf
- MD violates the intent of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
- MD will provoke new conventional and nuclear arms races both on Earth and in space
- MD will undermine arms control and disarmament
- MD will make Canada
and the world less secure
I/We therefore conclude that MD
runs counter to Canadas traditional multilateral approach
to security and its long-standing support for international non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament agreements.
I/We urge the Government of Canada
to say a resounding NO! to missile defence, and to work with other middle powers for an international
agreement to end the development of missile technology.
Yours sincerely,
Your name
Your address
cc: Hon. Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs; fax: 613-996-3443; Graham.B@parl.gc.ca
Hon. John McCallum, Minister of National Defence; fax: 613-995-8189;
McCallum.J@parl.gc.ca
Your Member of Parliament
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