Canada’s stand on arms trade breaks faith with the dead
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/11/2011 (5074 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Remembrance Day has a special meaning for me. On the night of Nov. 11, 1944, two of my comrades were killed, the rest, including myself, seriously injured when our Lancaster crashed after bombing an oil refinery at Dortmund, Germany.
In my mind’s eye, I see so clearly the faces of my fallen comrades. How sad and tragic it is that their lives were snuffed out in the flowering of their youth.
In remembrance ceremonies today, platitudes are uttered about the brave men and women who gave their lives so we can live in freedom. To honour them we must strive for peace to ensure their sacrifice was not in vain.
But we have not kept faith with the dead in the trend to militarism and notably Canada’s recent position on the Arms Trade Treaty, which is being negotiated internationally to control the trade of conventional firearms.
Project Ploughshares, the respected ecumenical peace centre of the Canadian Council of Churches, states that Canada “reversed its previous low key but constructive role” at this summer’s United Nations’ ATT meetings.
Canada became a “potential spoiler,” taking the stand that “sporting and hunting firearms used for recreational uses” be excluded from the treaty. It wanted recognition in the preamble “that small arms have certain legitimate civilian uses.”
Project Ploughshares asserts that all indications are the change of heart was a result of the influence of the domestic gun lobby on Canada’s foreign policy. Canada’s arguments are fatuous and futile in the international arena. There is no distinction between civilian and military small arms. In its desire to please the gun lobby, the government has asked for an exemption that has no relevance to the treaty. Says Project Ploughshares: “The ATT will not apply to civilian ownership or domestic transfer of firearms. It would apply only to exports.”
Canada’s position is preposterous. It assumes that hunting rifles in the hands of terrorists and criminals can do no harm.
The world is awash in arms and the arsenal is increasing. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reports that world military spending increased by six per cent in 2009, at a time when governments in deficit were cutting budgets. In 2009, global military spending totaled more than $1.5 trillion, the U.S. accounting for 40 per cent of this total. Canada, at $20 billion is the 13th highest military spender in the world. Moreover, its military spending has increased by 40 per cent over the past four years.
Project Ploughshares notes that Canada spends at least four times as much on its military as it does on development assistance to needy nations. In contrast, the Netherlands and Norway spend only twice the amount on the military as on development assistance.
The big issue here is whether security is in fact strengthened by spending more on guns while neglecting poverty and the social causes of violence. Canada is abandoning its role as a force for peace. Neither has it been a strong voice for diplomacy.
Says Kenneth Epps, senior program officer, Project Ploughshares: “It has been a long time since Canadians could proudly boast that Canadian troops participated in all UN peacekeeping missions.”
This year Canada ranked 53 among countries engaged in peacekeeping, providing less than 200 police and military personnel.
Canada can take pride in its role in deposing the brutal dictatorship that has endured in Libya for 42 years. But the emphasis on a military solution while spurning negotiations to end the conflict in Afghanistan has been a failure at a terrible cost to families who have lost their loved ones and to the Canadian treasury.
There’s no question that we need a military presence but I find it shocking, as do other air force veterans, that Canada plans to spend $29.3 billion to purchase and service 65 fighter aircraft, the price calculated by Kevin Page, parliamentary budget officer.
How can this be a priority in the governance of our country? The cost of a portion of these fighter planes could address the appalling lack of running water and other essential services on First Nations’ reserves in Manitoba.
In 2012, after years of preparation, the UN will set effective standards to regulate the global trade in arms.
For the first time, the five permanent members of the Security Council issued a joint statement in support of the ATT. This is an important step forward for they account for more than 80 per cent of the global arms sales. The aim is greater control of arms. Canada has taken a reverse position by asking for exemptions and this is unacceptable.
We need less emphasis on guns in the conduct of our affairs and more support for multinational efforts for peace, a message so pertinent on Remembrance Day.
Val Werier is a Winnipeg writer.